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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22370827">Proceed with Caution</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Runadaemon/pseuds/Runadaemon'>Runadaemon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Warm Hugs [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Is a Little Shit, Author Is Sleep Deprived, F/F, F/M, Fake Out Make Out, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Flustered Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Flustered Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Gen, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, Hot Mess Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Jealous Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, M/M, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Is a Savage, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Is a Tease, Sassy Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Smart Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, THERE IS PLOT, The Author Regrets Nothing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 12:55:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>24,668</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22370827</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Runadaemon/pseuds/Runadaemon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Now that the Chat's out of the Bag, as it were, there need to be some ground rules.</p><p>....too bad hormones can send all the rules flying out the window.</p><p>Or, in which Marinette hatches a plot, Adrien gleefully jumps aboard, and the rest of their world suffers.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir &amp; Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Warm Hugs [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1591669</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>202</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1135</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug and Cat/Chat Noir Reveal</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Plot Begins</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I only planned three chapters, but your comments on Sharing is Caring is giving me more and more ideas. Feel free to keep them coming, because it's gonna be a wild ride.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Proceed with Caution</p><p>“Mmm, Mari,” Adrien murmured against his beloved’s lips. Marinette, eyes closed and lips moving against his with abandon, gave a whine in reply, wantonly pushing closer to his body.</p><p>“Mariiii,” Adrien whined huskily against his lady-love’s lips. With a telltale smacking sound, Marinette unhappily separated and drew back. Adrien found himself lost in Marinette’s eyes, drowning in the bright blue and ready to never emerge. Only the pout steadily growing on his beloved’s face kept him from reaching forward to continue their explorations.</p><p>“What, Adrichat?” Marinette whispered. He could see on her face how she was struggling not to lean forward and continue kissing him. Adrien licked his lips and prayed for self-control. Goodness knows the dazed look in Marinette’s eyes spelled doom already. If he didn’t hold on to his remaining self-control, they may never stop kissing.</p><p>“What are we going to tell everyone?” Adrien let his forehead rest against Marinette’s, unable to deny the magnetic pull her entire being exerted on him. Without his permission, he began gently peppering kisses along her cheeks, her eyelids, her pert nose, and even teasing the corners of her mouth before a whine from the back of her throat made him pull away.</p><p>“Femmmeeee, why do you have to make me think? You’re supposed to make me noooot think,” Marinette whined childishly, reaching for him and wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug that left her head neatly tucked under his chin.</p><p>Like a charm, the nickname sent heat flooding across his face, and Adrien worked hard not to squeak in embarrassment. Adrien silently lamented the loss of his pretty view, even as he reveled in the warm embrace of his ladylove, closing his eyes and taking a moment to simply breathe her in.</p><p>“Shoot. Adrichat, there’s something I have to tell you.” Marinette’s serious voice surprised Adrien, but as he attempted to pull away, Marinette held onto him tenaciously. “No, stop!” Adrien stopped moving, happy to be whatever Maribug needed. “It’s easier to say this when I can’t see your pretty face.” Adrien preened happily, glad his ladylove appreciated his face. Adrien wrapped her tightly in his arms and hummed inquiringly at her.</p><p>“So, I know I said you being Chat Noir didn’t change anything,” Marinette began. Adrien felt an immediate cold sweat break out all over his body. She was going to break up with him. They were too close to Paris, he was going to get akumatized, then they would lose, and she was never going to date him again. Marinette squeezed him tighter, and he refocused on her quiet voice. “It doesn’t change my feelings! But there was this one time that Bunnyx came and borrowed me because….” Adrien stilled, not even breathing as he felt Marinette physically struggling to say what was coming. “Because our love, as Ladybug and Chat Noir, destroyed Paris.”</p><p>For just a moment, Adrien felt the bottom drop out of his stomach, and the world went dark around the edges. Absently he realized he needed to start breathing again, but his mind was too focused on the words ‘destroyed Paris’ rebounding inside his skull over and over to fully return to functioning. Adrien felt a panic attack starting, and quickly tried to ground himself. He needed to focus, so Marinette wouldn’t be left on her own.</p><p>Five things he could touch: Marinette. Marinette’s hair, Marinette’s back, Marinette’s ears that were turning pink as he nuzzled them, Marinette’s nape, where he longed to leave a love bite, Marinette’s chest, vibrating with her voice. Four things he could hear, Marinette’s choked voice, Marinette’s breath, Marinette’s heartbeat, Marinette’s eyelashes moving against his collarbone. Three things he could see, Marinette’s ears, Marinette’s neck, Marinette, Marinette, Marinette.</p><p>With a shock, he found himself able to understand Marinette’s words again. “Kitty, calm down! Your heart is beating too fast, it’ll be okay, I have a plan, just breathe for me, I have a plan Adrien! Come back, it’ll be okay!” Adrien took a shuddering breath and loosened the death grip he had around his landline.</p><p>The cold sweat left his back feeling chilly and his pulse was still thundering, but he had to hold it together. He took in a deep breath, then slowly let it out. Then he took in another deep breath, and committed to repeating this. His goddess, his beloved, his reason for living, she had a plan, it would be okay, they were still together, it would be okay. Adrien repeated his mantra in time with his breathing until he felt calm enough to try speaking.</p><p>“Plan?” Adrien whispered hoarsely. Marinette jolted slightly, whether from shock at the rough edge to his voice, or the gust of his breath ghosting along her nape, he couldn’t tell. He felt rather than heard her take a deep, calming breath as she straightened into her Ladybug persona. With no little amusement, he realized with a shock that he’d seen Marinette do this many times, often when she needed to be brave in her civilian life.</p><p>“Plan. I have one. There is a plan. Yes.” Marinette squeaked quietly. Despite himself, Adrien began snickering and curled protectively around her. Marinette’s loveliness could always distract him from his dark thoughts, he thought fondly.</p><p>“Marinette, you’re just too adorable, my ladylove.” Adrien chuckled into her ear, gazing at what he could see of her so warmly she appeared to gain a sunburn. Marinette gave a wordless whine and dug her face into his chest briefly. Adrien enjoyed the feeling of her heated cheeks rubbing along his body, quietly mourning the loss when she pulled away to stare up at him.</p><p>“You can’t just do that, Adrien! You’re too pretty, and your voice is too sexy for you to just DO that.” Marinette complained. Adrien felt his chest press forward proudly, and his shoulders press back, unashamed at his ability to reduce her to a whining flustered mess. She was his mess, and he was going to remain thankful for the rest of his life for her. “Plan!” Marinette squeaked, reading his intent to kiss her, and trying to return to their conversation.</p><p>Adrien pouted, but obligingly nodded at her. “See, I was pulled into the future several weeks ago, because… well, you were akumatized. So I’ve had time to think of loopholes, though I hoped I could just avoid admitting I was falling in love with you.” Marinette grimaced up at his adorable face. “Obviously that plan already failed, but I have back-ups!” Adrien smiled down at Marinette encouragingly.</p><p>“So what’s the plan, Ladinette?” Adrien asked, heart in his eyes. Marinette sighed and covered her eyes with a hand for a moment, unprepared for the attack. Adrien bit his lip to avoid laughing at her again. They really needed to work things out if they were going to avoid destroying Paris.</p><p>“First rule, no calling me Ladinette or Maribug.” Marinette muttered mutinously. Gathering her wits once more, she looked up at him with the no-nonsense, determined glare that first made him fall in love. “Okay, so I don’t know how our relationship ended up causing your akumatization, but Bunnyx assured me it was because of us dating. So for now, we’re officially fake-dating as far as anyone knows. We’re just doing it for the benefits, and publicity, okay?”</p><p>Adrien felt a surprising amount of frustration build up at the idea of being unable to really claim Marinette as his girlfriend. “Do we have to?” Adrien pouted. Marinette briefly reached up to kiss the pout away, only to be trapped by his sinfully silky lips moving in a way that left her belly in knots and her breath stuttering. Adrien poured his dissatisfaction into the kiss, passionately pressing against her and attempting to entice her into taking it back.</p><p>Surely with how easily she became a flustered, panting mess, she would agree that they needed to publicly claim each other immediately. Adrien’s lips involuntarily drew into a smirk, and he felt Marinette squawk into his mouth as she smacked his chest. With a chuckle, he leaned back and let Marinette glare up at him playfully.</p><p>“Adrien, that’s not going to work every time you pout, you know. And yes, we are officially fake dating as far as our friends and family know. We’re really dating as far as any strangers know. And we can’t kiss publicly or do anything too romantic without reason until after Hawkmoth is defeated. We definitely can’t be openly romantic as heroes. Do you still want me, even with all of these restrictions?” Marinette’s voice went from confident to insecure so suddenly that Adrien felt vaguely disoriented.</p><p>Adrien pulled Marinette to his chest with a put-upon sigh and squeezed her tightly, reassuring her without words that he still wanted her. “Of course, Mari. I want you any way you’re comfortable with. We’re in this together. Always.” Adrien kissed the crown of her head and felt the moment she relaxed. With a shared sigh, they leaned back to look at each other once more. Marinette gave him a brilliant smile.</p><p>“Always.” Marinette’s face melted into an adoring blush. “What did I do to deserve you?” She cooed sweetly up at him. Adrien felt his blush returning, but leaned forward, ready to fight her on this.</p><p>“I think you mean, what did I do to deserve *you*, my beloved. My luck just isn’t this good.” Adrien winked at her, and they mock glared, neither willing to believe they weren’t the most undeserving. Adrien sighed, and then brightened. “Heeey, milady-love?”</p><p>Marinette gave him a suspicious look. “Yes, Chadrien?” Somehow, she didn’t trust the shit-eating grin spreading across his face.</p><p>“Have you ever seen Danny Phantom?”</p><p>OMAKE:</p><p>Plagg sat frozen inside the purse, trying hard to avoid Tikki’s attention as he listened to their holders plotting to make everyone’s lives even more complicated. When Marinette admitted Adrien had been akumatized, Plagg felt chills break out across his skin.</p><p>Over the millennia, he’d experienced many things, but being akumatized was something he couldn’t recall. If it ever happened, he was sure the other miraculous had rewritten history. His power was too strong for this world to survive it corrupted and enhanced by Nooroo’s powers.</p><p>Holding his breath, he listened closely to their plan. It didn’t sound like much of one, but knowing Bakery Girl, it would have more depth than it initially sounded. He would be certain to help Adrien keep up the ruse, if only to protect his kitten from being the destroyer of this world.</p><p>Plagg eyed Tikki, noticing she too was listening to the plan. When Tikki smirked and nodded, Plagg realized Tikki was already familiar with it.</p><p>“Psst. Tikki. What’s the point of the plan?” Plagg whispered. Tikki turned and smirked evilly at him. Everyone lauded the God of Creation as some benevolent being, but Plagg vividly remembered every time Tikki or her chosen had created a new torture technique and felt a life fall right off.</p><p>“It’s a plan to draw out the duplicitous and get revenge on the cowardly. Want in?” Plagg gulped at the evil entity staring challengingly into his soul before nodding. He may be destruction, but he wasn’t evil. Chaos wasn’t evil, simply a vassal for change. Tikki could be evil, and he shuddered to think of what her newest, possibly cleverest bug had planned.</p><p>“Of course. Wanna bet on the results?” As the two kwami ironed out terms and conditions, they missed the amendments Adrien was making to Marinette’s plan.</p><p>They would both regret that.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Whom can you trust?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Adrien, if you could please remove your lips from your ladylove? No? Uh, Please?</p><p>In which the author attempts to advance the plot, and gets an abundance of kisses instead.....</p><p>Alternatively, why are you two like this? Just... stop kissing! Please!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I got nothing.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Proceed with Caution 2: Who can you trust?</p><p>As soon as Adrien and Marinette noticed the landscape changing to recognizable buildings, they finally separated and began fixing each other’s clothing. Once the clothes were presentable, they looked at their faces and were shocked by how red their partner’s lips were. With wide eyes, they covered their mouths to avoid exclaiming or laughing loudly.</p><p>Marinette smiled shyly from behind her hand. “Well, at least now we know that kissing for hours will leave signs on our faces.” She enjoyed watching the process of Adrien sinking down into the seat and sulking. Even with his lip poked out childishly and arms crossed defensively, she couldn’t help noticing he was still the most handsome boy she’d ever seen.</p><p>Adrien sighed and rose slightly in his seat, giving her a now familiar heated glance. “In for a penny, in for a pound?” He suggestively smirked as he asked. Marinette felt heat creeping up her body again, well aware of how good his kisses were and longing for more, even as she desperately fought against the pull he exerted. Marinette crossed her arms and leaned back against the window, determined to keep her hands to herself.</p><p>“No more, kitty. We need to try to look normal in order to pull the Plan off.” Adrien bit his lip, staring blatantly at hers, but eventually he sighed and nodded. Adrien seemed to switch from wanton smoldering model to cute sunshine boy within the blink of an eye. Marinette felt like she was going to get whiplash from the way he switched so easily.</p><p>“Okay, but I get a penalty kiss later. You used the wrong nickname, Bluebells.” Marinette mentally cursed, but nodded her agreement. Adrien reached for his lips with a small frown. “Though I may want a rain check. Are your lips as sore as mine are?” Adrien reached for his pocket, pulling out a miniature case of Vaseline and applying a thin coat to his lips.</p><p>Marinette touched her lips, surprised to feel how raised and tender they were. Reaching down for her purse, she was shocked when Adrien suddenly grasped her shoulders and kissed her again, hard. She felt their lips sliding across each other in a new way, and gasped. Adrien took advantage without a qualm, slipping his tongue in briefly and warring with her hesitant one, before withdrawing and leaving her reeling. As Marinette blinked up at her not-a-boyfriend-but-a-boyfriend with dazed blue eyes, she absently noted an almost feral and possessive smile on Adrien’s face.</p><p>Adrien smoothed his expression back into the general happy model look he normally enjoyed wearing, though Marinette noticed his eyes glinting in a way she’d never seen from Chat Noir or Adrien before. She felt almost like prey, but even as she registered the feeling, her shoulders drew back and her chest puffed in challenge. Marinette was no one’s prey, and by the approving glint in Adrien’s eyes, he already knew that. With the cute smile Marinette had fawned over for three years now, he commented. “There. That should help sooth your mouth a bit. Maybe I should get flavored Vaseline from now on. I heard they have chocolate flavor.”</p><p>Marinette stuttered for a minute, unsure what she wanted to say. “Th-th-th-that counts as your penalty kiss, you lech!” Marinette whispered harshly and pointed accusingly at Adrien, who simply grinned mischievously before kissing her finger and attempting to kiss his way up her arm. Marinette gave a quiet squeal and jumped back, hitting the window. “Owwww.” Marinette groaned, closing her eyes in chagrin.</p><p>Adrien sputtered in laughter before pulling her close and kissing the back of her head, checking her skull for any swelling. Seeing no damage, Adrien released her and Marinette fought the urge to pull him into another kiss. “Thank you, beau gosse.” Marinette took a moment to enjoy the redness that crept across Adrien’s embarrassed face. “Do I look okay?” Marinette experimentally spread the Vaseline across her lips with smacking, rubbing mouth movements. She normally used a chap stick, so the sticky feeling of the Vaseline was a little strange.</p><p>Adrien didn’t reply verbally, so Marinette looked up to see the loving expression completely with goofy smile and gooey eyes. She immediately crossed her arms in an X shape, and sharply whispered to him. “That’s a penalty! No loving looks like that! I get a penalty kiss later!” Adrien’s face morphed into an almost offended visage, but Marinette poked him in the nose and giggled. “That said, your gooey eyes are only for me to see, got it, beautiful?”</p><p>Adrien wiggled his eyebrows. “Oh? Did I earn a new nickname?” Adrien leaned down a bit and winked at her. “I like it.”</p><p>Marinette rolled her eyes. “Anyone with eyes can see you’re beautiful, Adrien. It’s not a nickname, it’s just a fact.” To her surprise, Adrien blushed so hard his ears and neck began changing color. Marinette could only blink, unsure why her comment had such an effect on him. Adrien groaned and covered his face with his hands.</p><p>“This Plan is going to kill me.” He whispered to himself. Marinette snickered, well aware that the course they chose wouldn’t be easy. “You’re a silver-tongued temptress.” He groaned and let his hands rub down his face, carefully avoiding his lips. Marinette meeped and avoided his gaze. She’d never thought of herself as a temptress before.</p><p>“Class, everyone wake up. We’ll be arriving shortly to the school. Put away the blankets, and wake your seat mates please!” Ms. Bustier’s voice jolted them from their insulated bubble. Marinette carefully peeked over the seat, while Adrien simply raised his head to look forward, noticing most of their friends groaning and stretching.</p><p>“Looks like everyone’s waking up, Bluebells. You ready to implement the plan?” Adrien whispered none too covertly. Marinette sighed and rolled her eyes, reaching down for her purse and blinking when Plagg left her purse for Adrien’s shirt pocket with little more than a quick wave at her. That was a little strange. Plagg usually liked to chat, but he’d seemed to be avoiding her. Marinette glanced inside to see Tikki looking far too satisfied with herself.</p><p>Marinette promptly decided she didn’t want to know and shut the purse. With a frown she tried to find the Guess Who game, only to see a surprising amount of ashes around their feet, and nothing else. “What the…” Marinette heard Tikki giggle, and paled as she realized Tikki had likely done something. With a sigh, she sat up straight. “They destroyed the board.” Marinette stared dead into Adrien’s eyes. “We forgot the board on the bus, okay?” Adrien frowned.</p><p>“But we didn’t-”</p><p>“We forgot it on the bus, I’m so sorry Max. Please forgive us.” Marinette spoke over Adrien’s protest in a dead tone. Adrien carefully glanced down at the floorboards and saw nothing but ash. With sudden understanding, he locked gazes with Marinette and grimly nodded.</p><p>“Let’s move up behind Alya and Nino, so it makes more sense that we would forget it.” Nodding at each other, they covertly moved up the rows to Alya’s seat. To Marinette’s surprise, Alya was drooling and snoring, Nino squished against the window and looking incredibly uncomfortable. Marinette smirked and tossed her purse into Adrien’s lap as she got her phone ready.</p><p>Marinette was concentrating on getting as many clear photos of Alya’s predicament as she could, so she missed it when Nino woke up. “Bruuuh?” Nino groaned. Marinette heard Adrien snort with laughter and lean forward to explain what they’d seen. The boys were talking quietly, but Alya still scrunched her nose and began to wake up at the loss of her soft pillow. With a final click, Marinette saved all the photos and smiled. Now she had some ammo for when Alya posted embarrassing photos on Insta.</p><p>“Good morning, sleeping beauty.” Marinette crooned at her best friend. Alya frowned grumpily. When Alya shifted, it was obvious she’d realized how sore she was, because the groan that escaped was loud enough to wake the rest of the bus. Marinette snickered and sat next to Adrien. They leaned against each other companionably, amused at their friends.</p><p>***************</p><p>As the students filed off of the bus, Marinette noticed Chloe and Lila waiting at the bottom of the stairs for Adrien. Marinette sighed and reached back to hold his hand. Adrien squeezed her hand thankfully, glad they already had a plan in place. As Marinette stepped off the bus, the two girls tried to block Adrien from getting off the bus without running straight into their arms, and nearly made Marinette lose her hold on Adrien’s hand.</p><p>“Hey!” Marinette shouted, happy to make a scene. The more people that noticed, the quicker their plan would be in place. “Let go of my boyfriend!”</p><p>Chloe and Lila scoffed, oddly in sync due to their mutual goal of securing Adrien. Despite their best efforts, they were unable to get a good hold on Adrien as he purposely flopped around until he was off of the bus and safely in Marinette’s arms.</p><p>“As if, Dupain-Cheng. Everyone knows you two have to be faking it.” Chloe rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, while Lila silently nodded agreement. Even further away from the scene, Sabrina nodded along, though she looked rather unsure.</p><p>Adrien frowned at Chloe, though Marinette could see the glee in his eyes at the Plan going so smoothly already. “We’re not faking. Marinette’s my girlfriend now, Chloe. You should be nicer to someone so important to me. Don’t you care that she makes me happy?” Adrien made his eyes as sad and downcast as he could, though Marinette nearly poked him when she saw his mouth twitching at the corners. He wasn’t as good of an actor as he liked to think he was.</p><p>Chloe genuinely paled and looked at Adrien standing in Marinette’s arms, clutching Marinette’s hands to his chest and looking woefully sad. Chloe’s mouth flapped silently, she obviously wanted to say something, but didn’t know what. Lila stepped forward and rolled her eyes. “Don’t give me that, Adrien. Everyone knows Marinette’s just a stalker fan-girl of yours. You’ve never given her a second glance before this trip. There’s no way you’re giving her a second look now. Now stop playing, let’s go say hello to your father together before you’re sent home.”</p><p>Lila stepped forward and reached for Adrien’s arm, but he jerked away and glared at her with genuine anger. “Marinette is the best thing that’s ever happened to me! She’s not a stalker, she’s my girlfriend and my future wife! I’ve always noticed her, I just never realized how important she was to me until recently. I’m not going anywhere with you.” Adrien frowned fiercely and Marinette felt her heart give a small throb. Adrien’s acting was always so obviously over the top, so she knew these words were from his heart. With a tremulous smile, Marinette squeezed him close and Adrien happily leaned against her.</p><p>“Future WIFE?!” Chloe burst out. “Now you’re taking it too far! You’re only 17, Adrikins, you can’t really think you’re going to marry this pauper in the future!! Is this a joke? This isn’t funny, you know!” Marinette was vaguely impressed Chloe had limited her criticism to calling her a pauper just once. Chloe really was trying to be better, but Marinette could acknowledge that this was a stressful situation for her. Marinette accommodatingly loosened her hold on Adrien, well aware of the next step of the Plan.</p><p>“I’m not joking around, Chlo. I love her! And there’s nothing anyone can say to stop me!” Adrien dramatically gestured with his arms before swinging around to hold Marinette by her shoulders. Ah, there was the dramatic acting she’d been waiting for. Marinette braced herself. “Maybe this will prove it to you!” Adrien declared, before leaning down and pulling a ‘surprised’ Marinette into a passionate kiss.</p><p>OMAKE 1:</p><p>*snickers*</p><p>“Oh shut up.”</p><p>*giggles*</p><p>“Like you could have done better, Maribug!”</p><p>“Ahahahahahaha!” Marinette gave in and allowed herself a full-bellied laugh, rolling around on her bed.</p><p>“Keep it up and I’ll withdraw your kissing permit!” Adrien snippily replied, sulking with his arms crossed, barely keeping a seat on the edge of her bed. Marinette snorted and tried to speak, but soon broke into laughter again.</p><p>“Nyoahahahahaa” Marinette’s voice was breathless, but not in the way that made Adrien happy. He just frowned harder, and willed the blush to recede.</p><p>“At least it looked good to everyone else. They bought it, and that’s the important part.” He muttered angrily.</p><p>“AhahahaaaA” Marinette wiped tears away from her cheeks, and did her best to stop laughing. “You did good, beautiful. But I can’t believe your lips slid up to my nooseehahahahaha” Marinette couldn’t hold it in, and burst out laughing again. Adrien groaned and fell back on her bed, easily squashing her under him, and making her squeak before breathlessly continuing to laugh under him.</p><p>“I can’t believe our first public kiss was so ridiculous. It’s because of the Vaseline. I’m not a bad kisser, right Maribug? I’m not!” Adrien reassured himself, even as dread crept over him at the thought of the photos being published as they spoke. He writhed in mortification, squishing Marinette and finally ending her laughing fit.</p><p>“It’ll be okay, beau gosse. We’re young, awkward kisses just show how ‘innocent’ and ‘pure’ our love is.” Marinette soothed, too worn out to keep laughing. Adrien rolled over, freeing her and conveniently moving so he could reach for her.</p><p>“Innocent and pure, huh?” Adrien murmured sexily. “Funny, that’s not what I’m feeling at all right now.” Adrien trailed off suggestively as he raised an eyebrow. Marinette’s face turned a dusky pink, even as she scoffed and attempted to weakly push him away.</p><p>“It’s all part of the plan, dear Watson.” Marinette sighed. “Though a combined Lila and Chloe akuma is something I never want to experience again. It’s a good thing we were on site from the start. Otherwise they might have actually been able to trick us.” Marinette shuddered in disgust.</p><p>Adrien winced. “Yeah, powerful fighter combined with illusionist is a really dangerous combo. I don’t even know how many times I came close to hitting you before you tied us together to stop the tricks from effecting us.” Adrien leaned back, content to snuggle close to Marinette. Looking up, they could see Plagg and Tikki frolicking on the balcony. Well, Plagg looked a little frightened, but Tikki looked happy, so surely they were playing.</p><p>“Phew. This plan is gonna be difficult to pull off, but at least we’ve convinced Paris we’re dating. When my Father calls for me to explain, I’ll let him know it’s fake. I’ve already told Nino we’re faking it, and you’ve told Alya?” Adrien questioned. Marinette hummed in agreement.</p><p>“Well, I did tell her, but she doubts that it’s fake. So remember, nothing romantic until it’s obvious we’re ‘catering’ to the public. While I’d love to hold your hand and kiss you every day, we can’t do that yet. Okay?” Marinette answered. Adrien gave an irritable groan in answer.</p><p>“Does that mean I can kiss you now to make up for the wait?” Adrien asked hopefully. Marinette laughed a little.</p><p>“You didn’t get enough Vaseline earlier?” Marinette snorted and replied. Adrien huffed and turned away with an insulted whine. “Aww, mon chaton, don’t be like that. I would, but my lips are already really tender from all the kissing earlier today. Raincheck?” Marinette wrapped herself around her boyfriend who stubbornly stayed facing the opposite direction, though he blatantly began scooting backwards to get as close as he could to her. It seemed that Adrien enjoyed being the little spoon. Marinette giggled softly. He really was adorable.</p><p>“Fine.” Adrien muttered. “But you have to cuddle me extra to make up for it, starting now.” Adrien moved a pillow under their heads, and Marinette nosed at his neck, feeling him shiver in response.</p><p>“That’s perfectly acceptable.” Marinette murmured, allowing her breath to ghost over his nape. The shudder going through his body made her smirk proudly, but she laid back and gave him her warmest, tightest, softest cuddles as agreed. He deserved them.</p><p>OMAKE 2:</p><p>“WHY WERE THEY KISSING IN PUBLIC?!” Tikki thoughtlessly tore flowers and aphids off of the plant beside her, throwing them in the direction of Plagg. Some aphids landed, but most overshot, while the flowers were well-aimed. Many flowers hit Plagg and he made a token effort to avoid them.</p><p>Plagg was just relieved there wasn’t cheese nearby. He may love cheese, but he didn’t enjoy wearing it. Knowing Tikki, she’d bathe him in cheese and sew his mouth shut so he couldn’t eat it if she were truly upset with him. Thankfully she was just airing her concerns.</p><p>“I DON’T KNOW, TIKKIIIIIIII!!!! STOP HITTING ME!!” Plagg dodged as many flowers as he could, but Tikki had pretty good aim. It was a good thing flowers were so light, or Plagg might actually get hurt. As though sensing his thoughts, Tikki charged and head-butted him right in the solar plexus. “OOF!” Plagg flew from the momentum of the hit, landing on the deck for a moment. That was going to leave a mark.</p><p>“THAT WASN’T PART OF THE PLAN!” Tikki flew in circles for a moment, clutching her antenna. She was obviously in distress at the amendment to the brilliant plan Marinette had made to prevent Chat Blanc from happening again.</p><p>“I DIDN’T DO IT. ASK THEM!” Plagg had given up on hiding over an hour ago. Tikki could always find him. He knew well enough that Tikki was frantic, scared she would lose the bet again and lose another delicious flavor. Plagg was also concerned. There had been no public kissing in the initial plan. At all.</p><p>“I CAN’T ASK THEM!! THEY’RE BONDING AND THEY THINK I’M IN ON THE PLAN ALREADY. I CAN’T ASK FOR THE PLAN NOW!! WHAT DID YOUR BOY DO TO OUR PLAN?!” Tikki threw a flower ineffectively in Plagg’s direction before screaming in fury as she charged at him again.</p><p>“I DON’T KNOW!!!” Plagg kept running, well aware Tikki would just keep targeting him until it was time to go home. Plagg glanced down and saw their holders cuddling close with smiles on their faces. The things he did for his kittens….</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Are you sure you’re really not dating?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In Which their friends are assured it's fake, and the strangers are assured it's real. </p><p>Alternatively, everything is going according to plan. Except possibly the akuma.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry this is late! I have a surgery scheduled for next week and it's making me too nervous to sleep or write, so this took longer than expected. Be assured, I have the fully story planned already, I just have to put it on paper. I'm still taking people's comments into consideration when planning scenes, so if you ask for something, you might get it. </p><p>That said, I really hope you enjoy the ridiculousness of these crazy kids. They're too cute.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Proceed with Caution 3: Are you sure you’re really not dating?</p><p>The next day at school began with a buzz. Adrien came to school holding flowers with a bright smile. Alya attempted to stare him down, but beyond making his smile a little more nervous, Adrien was able to bear the immense pressure of her gaze. Nino simply sighed at him with a softly muttered “Really, dude?” as he shook his head.</p><p>The rest of the class waited with baited breath for Marinette to come. When Marinette strolled in with a full three minutes to spare, the class held their breath to see what Marinette had to say about Adrien. Adrien popped up in excitement, holding the flowers straight out with a smile. “Here! These tulips are yours, Marinette!” Marinette stared for a moment as her face began to color up, during which Adrien plucked out a single flower and ever so slyly kissed the petals with a wink.</p><p>The blush that had begun to spread across her face rapidly receded, and Marinette quietly took the flowers with a stiff smile. Marinette narrowed her eyes at her ‘boyfriend’. When Adrien tried to give her the single tulip he’d plucked out, Marinette leaned forward, kissed the petals herself, and quietly told him to keep it. “It’ll match my tulips, beau gosse. Don’t you want our tulips to match?”</p><p>Nino groaned when Adrien almost immediately dropped back into his seat and stared up at Marinette with a goofy smile as the bell rang. “Thanks, Dupain-Cheng. You broke my seat mate.” Marinette laughed and leaned forward to answer as Ms. Bustier entered the room.</p><p>“We can always trade seat mates if you want to, Nino.” Ms. Bustier cleared her throat and set her bag on her desk.</p><p>“Class, I have an announcement. Marinette, if you would have a seat?” Marinette smiled nervously and quickly went to her seat. Ms. Bustier nodded and continued. “While we are investigating some discrepancies, Ms. Rossi will be unable to attend class. If you would like to take notes for her, please let me know and I can set up a rotation. Otherwise, please be patient. With that settled, please put away anything unrelated to class and settle down.” Ms. Bustier eyed the flowers on Marinette and Adrien’s desks with emphasis, and both moved the flowers to their seat.</p><p>With that, class continued per the norm all the way until it didn’t.</p><p>*********************************</p><p>“Oh, I have a photoshoot today. See you later, Bluebells!” As the class broke between 3<sup>rd</sup> and 4<sup>th</sup> period, Adrien grabbed his bag and flower as he stood. He then leaned over Marinette’s seat and kissed her softly on the cheek. Nino could only stare as Adrien lingered over his fake girlfriend’s desk. From this angle, it looked like Adrien nuzzled her cheek, but surely Marinette would have already melted if that were true.</p><p>Adrien left the class to collapse completely in shambles, humming happily. While the classroom burst into squeals and angry rants, Nino drew out his phone. He ignored Chloe’s screaming and Rose’s squealing, listening to Alya whisper furiously at Marinette and Marinette simply laugh nervously in reply.</p><p>Ninobro: DUDE. I thought you weren’t really dating?</p><p>Adrieno: Yeah? That’s right, my bro! Marinette’s just a really good friend, Nino! Chill out!</p><p>Ninobro: You don’t go out and buy flowers for a ‘really good friend’ ADRIEN.</p><p>Adrieno: Sure you do, I just did. You saw me!</p><p>Ninobro: Okay, forget the flowers. What’s up with the kiss???? The class is dying, bro!!</p><p>Adrieno: What about it? It’s just a farewell kiss. We’re French! Bise away, my good bro! You could do that to anyone. No big deal!</p><p>Ninobro: Oh. I see. So if she’s just a good friend, you don’t mind if someone asks her out for lunch, right?</p><p>Adrieno is typing….</p><p>…</p><p>…</p><p>…</p><p>…</p><p>Nino gave up on getting a reply from Adrien after five minutes. Class resumed before Adrien replied to him.</p><p>When the bell for lunch rang, Nino checked to see if there was a reply, only to see a very short and simple message.</p><p>Adrieno: …Has someone asked her out?</p><p>Nino took his time replying, chatting with Alya and Marinette while they were getting seated at the new café Alya insisted on trying out. He was trying to decide how best to catch Adrien in his feelings without lying. Nino noted with interest when the waiter paid special attention to Marinette, and couldn’t hold back the smirk as he finally figured out what to say.</p><p>Ninobro: Well, he hasn’t asked her out yet, but I imagine she’s gonna find a phone number on her check.</p><p>Nino was impressed by the speed at which Adrien replied. It was almost as though he’d been waiting by the phone.  </p><p>Adrieno: Who?!</p><p>Adrieno: Waiter?</p><p>Adrieno: Is it a classmate?</p><p>Adrieno: Or a waiter?</p><p>Adrieno: Or a stranger?</p><p>Adrieno: Nino?!</p><p>Adrieno: Why aren’t you answering me? Nino?!</p><p>Ninobro: You didn’t give me time to reply. Waiter over here is definitely eying Marinette.</p><p>Adrieno: What’s Marinette’s response? Is she flirting? She’s a flirt, I already know.</p><p>Adrieno: I can take it. Tell it to me straight. She’s flirting right? Fluttering eyelashes, coy smile?</p><p>Ninobro: Uh, bro, nah. She’s just smiling normally and talking in a clear voice.</p><p>Adrieno: Really? Because that sounds like she’s being adorable to me.</p><p>Ninobro: Yeah, dude. When have you seen Marinette flirting?!</p><p>Adrieno: ….idk. g2g.</p><p>Ninobro: Dude? That’s obviously a sketchy answer! Come back here! BRO!</p><p>After waiting for a minute and seeing no reply, Nino put his phone away and looked up at the girls chatting together. Marinette was gushing about a beautiful dress she’d been designing for the last couple of weeks. Alya glanced over at Nino and looked to be sure he was done with his phone before she smirked.</p><p>“So, Marinette. What’s this about dating Adrien?” Marinette paused, mouth open unattractively and eyes wide in surprise. Nino almost felt sorry for her, but as he saw the waiter approaching, he decided that letting the waiter know she was taken would be the kindest thing to do. As the waiter set down their soups and sandwiches, Nino decided to chime in.</p><p>“Yeah, dudette. My bro even kissed you earlier. You’re totally dating on the down low, aren’t you?” Nino was surprised to see the waiter actually drop Nino’s plate on the table. Glancing up, he was met with a surprisingly furious pair of eyes. Marinette’s sputtering drew both boys’ attention.</p><p>“We’re not dating!” Marinette waved her arms in the air. “It’s all for the publicity! It helps his image to be seen as desirable, so he needs to date around for a bit. We’re not serious at all, don’t worry!” Marinette’s voice didn’t waver, and while her eyes appeared panicked, the smooth delivery apparently soothed the waiter, as he gently set Marinette’s plate in front of her.</p><p>With a soft smile, the waiter murmured in her ear. “I’m glad to hear that.” As he leaned back to see how she took it, Marinette’s face flushed scarlet. With a smug smirk, the waiter turned and sashayed as he walked away, as though confident Marinette would be watching. Nino was impressed to see Marinette did indeed turn to stare, but while the waiter glanced back with a coy smile, Marinette’s face was a scarlet, panicked mess.</p><p>Marinette leaned towards her friends. “What was that?!” Her panicked squeal was very high pitched, and equally confused. Alya burst out laughing, and Nino shook his head with a sigh. “What does that mean? What just happened?” Alya laughed herself silly, unable to answer. Nino simply sat back, waiting for a sign from above as to whether he was actually supposed to tell Marinette the waiter was flirting.</p><p>When there was no sign from above, and Alya was finally calm enough to start sipping her soup, Nino shrugged and dug into his food, ignoring Marinette’s hushed demands for an explanation. With his mouth full of soup, Nino gestured helplessly at her, and Marinette finally started eating her own food with a pout. Everyone ate for a few more minutes before Alya leaned back to continue her interrogation.</p><p>“But really, girl. What was with the flowers, and the flirting, and the kiss?” Alya stared hard, as though looking for clues, but with Marinette choking, they were hard to come by.</p><p>Nino was impressed despite himself when the waiter suddenly appeared with napkins, gently patting Marinette on the back and asking if she needed anything else. Marinette smiled up at him thankfully and looked down to grab the napkins. She missed the flush that spread across his face, but Nino didn’t.</p><p>Nino discreetly pulled out his phone.</p><p>Ninobro: Dude, your girl is an accidental flirt. Come claim her before this dude gets heartbroken.</p><p>To everyone’s surprise, Marinette’s phone lit up with an incoming call. Marinette fumbled as she tried to get the phone out without dropping it in her soup, and answered it as quickly as she could, but not before Nino recognized the song. Was that… Just Friends by the Jonas Brothers? Nino gaped, completely blindsided by how Marinette seemed to have embraced Adrien’s disheartening refrain.</p><p>Nino glanced to Alya, but she didn’t seem to recognize the song. He would have to fill her in later. For now, they had a show to watch. The waiter, Nino and Alya watched Marinette smile into the phone.</p><p>“Hey, Adrien! What’s going on? I thought you were busy.” Marinette’s voice was a little raspy from choking on her soup, but she played it off well. Nino watched with fascination as Marinette blinked before looking around. “What?” Marinette frowned.</p><p>“No, I’m not flirting around. What even made you think that?” Marinette gave a quick glanced at Nino and Alya before raising her voice just a bit. “And what business of yours would it be? It’s not like we’re really dating!” Nino smiled fondly as he watched the blush grow across Marinette’s face. She may insist they weren’t a couple, but she definitely wished they were. Nino glanced at the waiter as he discreetly walked away with his fists clenched.</p><p>“That’s not! Adrien! I’m hanging up now! I’ll see you in class, okay? Bye!” Marinette quickly ended the call, shocking both of her friends. Marinette quickly sent a text before putting her phone away and glaring at Nino.</p><p>“I’ve already told you. It’s a publicity stunt. And who exactly was I flirting with, you busybody?” Marinette frowned at him as she took a vicious bite of her sandwich. Nino winced, getting the message that he was supposed to be the sandwich. Alya turned to gape at Nino, looking partly impressed and partially scandalized.</p><p>Nino studiously avoided the gaze of the scary girls in front of him. “I mean, I just said you were an accidental flirt. There’ve been guys giving you heart eyes this whole time, and I don’t think you’ve even noticed.” Marinette took a suspicious glance around, and Nino watched with weary amusement as more than one guy immediately looked away nonchalantly. Alya snorted when she saw one guy blatantly stare back and wink when Marinette looked at him.</p><p>Marinette’s face spun away and Nino sighed as he realized how mortified she was. Nino resigned himself to doing damage control. Marinette was rarely aware of just how pretty she was, let alone how devastatingly attractive her personality made her. “Don’t worry, Marinette. I was mostly just messing with Adrien. I didn’t expect him to actually call you about it. So you’re really not dating?”</p><p>Marinette shook her head with a wry smile. “We’re fake dating, Nino. Do you really think he’d realize I like him without a clue-by-four to his head?” Marinette tilted her head inquiringly. Alya groaned as she buried her head in her hands. Nino sighed.</p><p>“You have impeccable logic there, dudette. My bad. We just hoped he’d finally figured things out.” Nino checked his phone. He had a text waiting.</p><p>Adrieno: Where are you guys?</p><p>Ninobro: Why?</p><p>Adrieno: Just curious!</p><p>Ninobro: Really?</p><p>Adrieno: Of course! Why else would I ask?</p><p>Ninobro: Oh, I don’t know. So you could surprise Marinette? Scare off the dudes staring at her?</p><p>Adrieno: Would I do that?</p><p>Ninobro: Maybe not on purpose but.…</p><p>Ninobro: We’re at the Cupid Café down the road from the school.</p><p>Adrieno: Huh. New place?</p><p>Ninobro: Yeah. Dude, I gotta eat or lunch is gonna run out on me.</p><p>Nino put his phone away without waiting for a reply, to see the girls quietly sipping their cooled soups. Nino grabbed his food and started hurrying. The lunch hour really would get away from them if they dawdled much longer. As Marinette finished her food, she leaned back with a stretch and happy sigh. Nino watched the waiter as he approached with a hopeful smile and their checks.</p><p>“Ahhh, I think I need some coffee to keep me awake during afternoon classes.” Marinette yawned. Nino watched with interest as the waiter turned on his heel and walked away. Propping his head up on his hand, he watched with amusement as the waiter returned with coffee in a to-go cup with some noticeable digits written on the outside.</p><p>“Here’s your checks. Please let me know when you’re ready for me to pick them up.” The waiter’s smooth voice startled Marinette and she turned with a smile after jumping in her seat.</p><p>“Actually, I was won…” The waiter happily placed the coffee on the table in front of her. “Oh, thank you! You’re amazing! How did you guess?” Marinette gushed with an endearing smile, and Nino shook his head. Marinette was just being irresponsible with her cuteness now. The waiter was obviously unprepared for the full attention of an adorable Marinette as he stumbled back.</p><p>“Uh, guh, jus, uh.” He cleared his throat and started again. “Just a gut feeling.” He winked at her. The three friends scrambled for their money, and paid their checks. When Marinette checked over hers, she frowned.</p><p>“Oh, wait. You didn’t add the…” Marinette trailed off when the waiter made a shushing motion with a finger over his lips and a wink.</p><p>“Consider it my treat, pretty lady.” The waiter briskly walked away before Marinette could protest. Marinette turned back with a confused expression, and Alya clapped a hand on her shoulder.</p><p>“Just accept it, M. He’s not going to take your money.” When the waiter came back with their change, everyone packed up and stood. The waiter stood by hopefully, almost hovering over Marinette as he waited for her to notice the number scrawled across her cup, but she remained oblivious. As they were about to exit the shop, Adrien rushed in. The waiter cut off his enthusiastic wishes for their return in surprise.</p><p>“Marinette!” Adrien exclaimed. He then very obviously tacked on “Nino! And Alya! Glad I caught you all! Heading back to school?” Adrien draped an arm around Marinette’s shoulders as casually as he could. Which was done completely awkwardly and overly possessively to Nino’s trained eyes.</p><p>Adrien’s eyes made an obvious perusal of the shop, pausing on almost every guy that had been surreptitiously checking out Marinette during lunch before stopping on the waiter. With an innocent smile, he waved his free hand at the waiter. “Have a great day!”</p><p>Adrien then turned his full attention to Marinette. “May I walk the beautiful lady to class?” Adrien gallantly proposed. Marinette giggled and rolled her eyes before elbowing him lightly. Adrien feigned pain as he escorted his friends from the shop.</p><p>“You’re so silly!” Marinette laughed as the door chimed shut behind them. To Nino’s surprise, they soon heard crashing coming from the direction of the café they’d left. Glancing behind himself, he saw an akuma emerge.</p><p>“AKUMA! RUN!” Nino yelled, grabbing Alya and sprinting for the school, certain that Adrien would be doing the same with Marinette. When he glanced back a few minutes later, the akuma was gone, and so were his friends.</p><p>“Great going, Nino.” Alya huffed, pulling away from him and straightening her clothes. “I couldn’t get any footage for my blog, and we lost our friends!” Alya pouted while Nino rolled his eyes.</p><p>“Sorry babe. I expected them to be right behind us. Besides, I’m pretty sure the akuma is after Adrien or Marinette. It was probably our waiter.” Alya looked up at him in surprise.</p><p>“You really think so?”</p><p>Before Nino could answer, they heard a surprisingly loud roar in the distance. “HOW DARE YOUUUUU!!!”</p><p> </p><p>OMAKE:</p><p> </p><p>Ninobro: Dude, your girl is an accidental flirt. Come claim her before this dude gets heartbroken.</p><p>Adrien stared down at his phone for just a moment before his hands moved without thought. Before he fully realized what he was doing, he held the phone up to his ear as he listened to it ring, completely ignoring the make-up artist sighing at him.</p><p>“Hey, Adrien! What’s going on? I thought you were busy.” Marinette’s voice coming through the phone sent pleasure and relief coursing through him. He was amused that he could hear the smile in her voice, unconsciously smiling back. Without meaning to, he easily slipped into his suave mode.</p><p>“Well hello, light of my life. I hear you’ve been lighting others aflame. That won’t do, darling.” Adrien drawled. From the corner of his eye, he saw a girl drop her bag, and the make-up artist that had been irritated with him froze in place.</p><p>“What?” Marinette’s voice clearly conveyed the confusion she was feeling. Adrien smirked as he imagined her adorable frown coming out before he realized other guys were definitely getting to see that pretty moue without him there. He felt a frown naturally form.</p><p>“A little bro told me you’re flirting with other boys.” Adrien tsked into the phone, sending a soft, husky laugh into the receiver. “You know I get jealous, darling.”</p><p>“No, I’m not flirting around. What even made you think that?” Marinette raised her voice just enough to be noticeable. “And what business of yours would it be? It’s not like we’re really dating!” Adrien smothered the laugh that wanted to come out. Marinette was obviously playing along to their plan, but he needed to convince his coworkers he was besotted with Marinette. This meant he could say whatever he wanted to, and Marinette would just have to pretend he hadn’t.</p><p>“Oh, song of my heart, my most beloved Bluebell. You know it would kill me if you left me for some other guy. Please tell me I’m the only one for you. Put meowt of my misery!” Adrien dramatically cried. The make-up artist covered her mouth with her hands, looking almost teary-eyed, Adrien noted with glee. The girl that had knelt down to pick up her bag was staring up at him with doleful eyes, obviously wishing he was talking to her. Adrien made sure not to look in her direction again. He didn’t want to cause any more akuma outside of the planned ones.</p><p>“That’s not! Adrien! I’m hanging up now! I’ll see you in class, okay? Bye!” Adrien coughed to cover the snicker he couldn’t help at how flustered Marinette sounded. As Marinette hung up, Adrien made a show of proclaiming his love, and thanking Marinette for reassuring him.</p><p>“Oh, Marinette! I knew you would remain true to me! I just couldn’t overcome my jealousy at the idea of other men seeing your beauty! I love you so! I miss you more! No, I miss you most! No, No, I’m the most miserable without you here with me!” Adrien glanced around exaggeratedly, still avoiding the girl’s eyes on the floor.</p><p>“My darling, I really must go. You hang up first. No, you! No, you!” Adrien laughed into the phone, enjoying his one-sided call, before deciding to put everyone out of their misery. “Alright, we’ll hang up together on three. Ready? 1, 2, 3!” With extreme care to keep the screen from showing to anyone, he ‘hung up’.</p><p>Adrien turned back to his make-up artist who looked discomfited and embarrassed. “I’m so sorry about that. My girlfriend is just too adorable for my peace of mind, you know?” Adrien smiled and scratched his head. “I can’t help but worry with all the guys out there waiting to steal her away.” The make-up artist smiled awkwardly.</p><p>“I understand.” She replied with a very unsure tone. Adrien glanced down at his phone to see Marinette’s text message.</p><p>My heart &lt;3: You’re ridiculous, but you did great. Did you have to resort to a pun!? See you soon?</p><p>Adrien smiled as he replied happily.</p><p>Adri-prince: Of course, darling. Have to set the stage, don’t we?</p><p>With his mind cleared, Adrien could concentrate on getting this photoshoot done in record time. He had a plan to carry out and his beloved was counting on him.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Fake Out Make Out Time!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>More...kissing...</p><p>And the plan progresses! A little bit!</p><p>Alternatively, grass stains can be telling, and Adrienette are shameless.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I can't even. I feel like I'm herding unruly children towards the plot and they're laughing and jumping over it right now. Thankfully this should only be a few more chapters, but it's debateable how long it will take me. I'm still taking plot/scene ideas if there's something you'd like to see, let me know! I hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Proceed with Caution 4: Fake Out Make Out Time!</p><p> </p><p>Adrien couldn’t lie. He’d been most excited about this part of the plan. As Adrien and Marinette ran towards a nearby park to ‘hide’ behind some bushes, he made sure they stayed in sight of the Akuma until they entered the park. Adrien glanced back to see the Waiter skating after them, and pushed Marinette out of sight as quickly as possible.</p><p>Marinette hustled them behind some bushes and Adrien grinned fiercely at her. Everything was going perfectly according to plan, as the park had been abandoned as soon as the akuma had been spotted, just as they thought. “Are you ready for this?” He asked, excitement making him more breathless than the sprint.</p><p>“I was born ready. Hurry!” Marinette reached for him, pulling his head toward her as Adrien tightly wrapped his arms around her waist and dragged her to the ground, carefully laying her on top so grass stains wouldn’t mark her up. Marinette ignored his consideration and straddled his hips, making him breathless.</p><p>Marinette giggled as Adrien’s dilated, before they heard the rustling of the akuma approaching. Quickly Marinette attached her lips to his and moaned loudly. Even knowing it was on purpose and meant to draw the attention of the Akuma, Adrien couldn’t help the smitten whimper that escaped his own throat at her sound.</p><p>Adrien kept his eyes slitted so he’d be able to see when the Akuma cleared the bushes, but he could feel Marinette shaking. He immediately dismissed the idea of her being scared, and cottoned on quickly when she softly snorted. Marinette was laughing at the situation.</p><p>Adrien felt his fighting spirit rise. Yes, the kissing was just part of their plan, but he didn’t want his kisses laughed at. He quickly pressed a hand to the back of her head, startling her as he deepened the kiss. Marinette let out a muffled groan at the unexpected contact of their tongues, and Adrien purred in satisfaction.</p><p>Adrien was so concentrated on making sure Marinette was sufficiently pleased, he forgot to look out for the akuma, and was genuinely startled at his roar.</p><p>“HOW DARE YOUUUUU!!!”</p><p>Adrien’s eyes popped open, tongue still on the inside of Marinette’s cheeks as he saw the Akuma’s claw coming down at them. Depending entirely on instinct, Adrien rolled them both across the lawn as he popped his tongue free and noted with satisfaction that Hawkmoth’s mask was covering the Akuma’s face.</p><p>Hopefully Hawkmoth had seen them kissing, but if not, they would just repeat this process for the next couple of weeks. Adrien squeezed Marinette reassuringly before pushing her up and running with her. As soon as they were out of sight of the screaming Akuma, they separated and ran in opposite directions.</p><p>“Plagg, claws out!” Adrien whispered harshly as soon as he hid behind the men’s washroom. As the green of his transformation washed over him, he spotted his lady’s signature pink coming from a smaller than average tree. Chat laughed to himself, immediately making a list of puns to annoy her with.</p><p>As Chat ran back towards the Akuma, he soon fell into line with Ladybug, who was trying to brush leaves out of her hair as she ran. “Tree-ting this lightly, eh, milady?” Chat joked. The amused glance Ladybug sent him almost made him laugh out loud, before he battled it down to a wide grin.</p><p>“I might have deserved that one, Minou, but we should really concentrate now. Jokes later, Akuma now.” Ladybug smiled at him and ran forward. Chat barked out a laugh, before speeding up. He wasn’t going to lose this race.</p><p>*****************************************************************</p><p>“Bien Joue!” Chat Noir and Ladybug bumped fists as they watched the waiter dizzily stand back up.</p><p>“What happened?” The waiter asked. He looked disoriented, glancing around the park in surprise and suspicion.</p><p>“We don’t really know,” Ladybug blatantly lied. “What do you remember?”</p><p>“I remember thinking….Oh no!” The waiter grimaced. “I’m not proud of it, but I remember thinking ‘Why are all the good girls taken or too oblivious’ and then…. Nothing.” He ruefully looked between Ladybug and Chat Noir. “I got akumatized, didn’t I?”</p><p>Chat laughed lightly. “You got it in one, my dude. Sorry you missed out on a sweet girl, but there’s always other fish in the sea, right?” Ladybug none-too-subtly elbowed him as she noticed Alya recording as she approached. Chat straightened up and adopted a serious mien.</p><p>The waiter sighed despondently. “I suppose so, but this girl was EXACTLY my type. Short, cute, blue-eyed, incredibly adorable mannerisms, kind, she even apologized for choking!” The waiter rolled his eyes in silent suffering. “Do you know how many girls like that I’ve met in 3 years of waiting on people?” The waiter stared at Chat, waiting for a response.</p><p>Ladybug was turning increasingly red, while Alya’s smirk was growing by the minute. She’d caught all of that on tape, Chat suspected. He could already imagine how flustered ‘Marinette’ was going to be when she saw that.</p><p>“Uhhh,” Chat tried to think of how many girls could be anywhere near as cute as his girlfriend, firmly shooing away the ‘No one can compare to my beloved!’ thoughts. “Half a dozen?”</p><p>The waiter stared as though he thought Chat was insane. “The answer is one. A single person that hit every one of my sweet spots, and she just walked out the door with a model that even *I* recognize from Ads. And the warning look the model gave me?” The waiter rolled his eyes in exasperation. “He obviously knows he’s got a good thing. I doubt he’s ever gonna mess up enough for me to get a shot at wooing her.”</p><p>“Okay!” Ladybug shouted in a near squeal. Chat tried his best, but the snicker that escaped was definitely beyond his control. “I have to go now! I’m so sorry you couldn’t get the girl, havanicedaynowbyebyebugout!” Ladybug sprinted away and Chat waited for her to get out of sight and Alya to stop recording.</p><p>“Pfft. Phahahahahha!” Chat burst out laughing, bending over and clutching his stomach in pain. He felt tears streaming from his eyes and he could see the questioning looks the other three were shooting him, but he waved them off. “Inside joke,” he gasped. “Been holding it in too long.” Chat wheezed. “Ohhhh, man, her FACE.”</p><p>Chat suddenly stood straight and pointed at the waiter. “Good job recognizing a good thing, sorry it didn’t work out. I gotta chat you later, Chat out!” As Chat ran towards the school, he worked on controlling his laughter.</p><p>Marinette took care of it for him when she stepped out of an alley, clotheslined him, and threw his body into the alley she’d been hiding in. “Get over here!” She hissed. Chat coughed as he felt his throat with his paws.</p><p>“Damn, Princess, you could be a wrestler!” He choked out, rubbing at his collarbone as he grinned up at her from the floor. To his amusement, Marinette’s face briefly lit up in interest.</p><p>“Do you really think so? I’ve been doing moves with Papa for-” Marinette’s face momentarily froze as she remembered why she’d clotheslined him. “That’s not the point! What took you so long?! We ran off together as far as anyone else knows, remember?!”</p><p>Chat stood and released his transformation as he grimaced. “You’re right. I’m still not used to being with you when I transform, sorry. Thanks for catching me, Buginette.” Marinette’s face lit in satisfaction once more.</p><p>Marinette sauntered to her boyfriend, and smirked as she reached behind his head. As he willingly leaned down, she murmured to him. “Penalty kiss, beau gosse.” Her eyes fell to half-mast and she closed the distance between their lips as she closed them.</p><p>Adrien groaned in relief as he felt the silky warmth of his beloved’s lips close against his own, easily sliding across his to access the cavern within. Willingly, Adrien opened his mouth, accepting her tongue and wrapping his arms around her waist in silent supplication. As she began to draw back, Adrien groaned in protest, and he felt her giggle before returning to kissing him properly.</p><p>“Mmm, Mon Femme, if we don’t stop, our plan is going to fail.” Marinette murmured, finally getting the millimeter distance needed to speak once more. Adrien whined, nuzzling her cheeks with his nose.</p><p>“Worth it.” He rasped. “You’re worth everything. I get tingles when you call me that.” He huskily confessed. Adrien held tightly to Marinette as she tried to free herself. Marinette giggled again before gently rubbing him under the chin with a finger. Despite himself, Adrien relaxed and leaned forward, always eager for pets.</p><p>Marinette immediately kissed the underside of his jaw as she stepped out of his arms before grabbing one of his arms with both of hers. Resting her head against his shoulder, Marinette smirked at the dazed expression on Adrien’s face.</p><p>Content to be led, Adrien blindly followed as Marinette guided him from the alley back to school. Adrien let his mind replay the sweet kisses they shared the whole way back.</p><p>********************************************************************</p><p>“Girl, you will not believe what that akuma said!” Was the first thing Marinette heard when she and Adrien returned to class. Marinette glanced at the teacher they’d interrupted, then Alya who looked remorseless. With an awkward smile, Marinette guided Adrien to his seat, literally pushed the dazed boy down, then quickly fell into her own seat and feigned attention on the teacher.</p><p>“Sorry, we were hiding from the akuma!” Marinette blurted.</p><p>“Oh, is that what we’re calling it nowadays?” Kim drawled. As Kim laughed at his own joke, several people turned pink, noticing the flush on Adrien and Marinette’s faces, and the way they subtly sank in their seat. Whispering broke out as some saw the grass stains on Adrien’s back, while others whispered at the stains on Marinette’s knees.</p><p>Marinette saw Alya’s eyebrows raise and gave her a conspiratorial wink, hoping to remind her of their ‘circumstances’. Alya’s eyebrows raised, but she nodded as she patted Marinette on the back and turned back to the teacher. “Sorry for interrupting.” Alya insincerely apologized.</p><p>“Right.” The teacher silently eyed the class, before sighing. “Next time you’re hiding, maybe get grass stains in less conspicuous places, Marinette. Back to math, now.” The teacher turned back to the board, and Marinette released a breath halfway between mortified and relieved. Glancing at Alya, Marinette decided to enjoy the peace while it lasted. All too soon, the bell rang.</p><p>“M! You will not believe what the cute waiter said about you!” Alya gushed as soon as the teacher began packing up. “And we will be discussing those grass stains on your knees and Adrien’s back later, girl.” Alya quietly muttered. The other girls immediately abandoned their bags and crowded around Marinette and Alya’s seat. Nathaniel, Adrien, Nino, and Max none-too-subtly joined the huddle as Alya turned the volume as high as she could and skipped to the part she meant.</p><p>Marinette took a deep breath and worked on not screaming as she prepared herself to listen to the kind words of the stranger once more. Marinette glanced at Adrien’s unholy expression of glee and felt irrational anger spring up. Shouldn’t he be jealous of someone admiring his girlfriend? Instead, he seemed to be finding it hilarious, if the unsubtle way he was rubbing his hands together and trying to not smile were any indication.</p><p>Marinette jumped when Alya started the video, turning to see Alya pushing her phone as close to Marinette’s face as she could without blocking the other people’s views.</p><p>--“I remember thinking….Oh no!” The waiter grimaced. “I’m not proud of it, but I remember thinking ‘Why are all the good girls taken or too oblivious’ and then…. Nothing. I got akumatized, didn’t I?”</p><p>Chat laughed lightly off-screen. “You got it in one, my dude. Sorry you missed out on a sweet girl, but there’s always other fish in the sea, right?”</p><p>The waiter sighed despondently. “I suppose so, but this girl was EXACTLY my type. Short, cute, blue-eyed, incredibly adorable mannerisms, kind, she even apologized for choking!” The waiter rolled his eyes in silent suffering. “Do you know how many girls like that I’ve met in 3 years of waiting on people?” The waiter stared off-screen, waiting for a response.--</p><p>Alya paused the video. “Do you HEAR the way he describes you? Not only are you cute and adorable, he loves your mannerisms and kindness too! If you and Adrien don’t work out, you should really give him a shot, girl!” Marinette sputtered incoherently, as Adrien straightened up in affront.</p><p>“I’ll have you know we’re going to get married and have three kids and two pets and be happy for the rest of our lives, Alya! How dare you besmirch my honor and my beloved this way!” Marinette slapped a hand to her face as the entire class gaped at Adrien. Adrien looked challengingly at Alya, never wavering in his speech, while Alya wordlessly pointed at him while staring at Marinette for an explanation.</p><p>Marinette meaningfully looked around the room before giving a sickly sweet smile to Adrien. “Yes, my handsome prince. That’s exactly what we’re going to do. But not everyone needs to know that, right?” She gritted out in a high pitched tone. Alya caught on, and coughed.</p><p>“Right, back to the video! He’s not done!”</p><p>--“Uhhh,” Chat paused for a good 10 seconds, but the man in the video waited patiently. “Half a dozen?”</p><p>The waiter stared off-screen as though he thought Chat was insane. “The answer is one. A single person that hit every one of my sweet spots, and she just walked out the door with a model that even *I* recognize from Ads. And the warning look the model gave me?” The waiter rolled his eyes in exasperation. “He obviously knows he’s got a good thing. I doubt he’s ever gonna mess up enough for me to get a shot at wooing her.” --</p><p>Marinette immediately covered her face and collapsed to the desk once more. Alya accommodatingly paused the video again. She still wasn’t recovered from that description. Did Adrien really look like that? Was Adrien playing up his feelings for the plan, or was that how he genuinely felt and the waiter picked up on it?</p><p>Marinette determinedly ignored the chaos her classmates created, allowing herself to wallow while Alya chortled proudly and Adrien obviously tried to not laugh, while Nino was telling Adrien “Don’t cry dude, she’s fine! He’s not going to steal her!”</p><p>Marinette’s eyes remained closed, hidden behind both hands. Despite it all, she could still see the odd face Chat always makes when he’s doing his best to desperately hold a pun back like a smelly fart. If her calculations were correct, he’d be running to the bathroom in 3…2…1…Oh? Maybe he-</p><p>“I need the restroom!” Adrien burst out, and the sound of running feet followed his announcement. Ah, she’d been off by a couple of seconds. Marinette held her breath, doing her best, but she couldn’t hold it back. As her shoulders began to shake enough that her head was bouncing on the desk, Alya consolingly pat her on the shoulders.</p><p>The patting stopped the moment sound escaped her lips. “Pfft. Pfffffftaahahahaahaaa.” Marinette breathlessly laughed. She could feel the air cool as everyone stepped away.</p><p>“How odd,” Marinette faintly heard Alya mutter. “That’s exactly how Chat responded.” Even as Marinette felt Alya leveling a suspicious gaze on her, she was still helplessly giggling. This situation was so surreal.</p><p> </p><p>OMAKE:</p><p>Nino stared after his best friend as he ran to the bathroom. Despite his initial worry that Adrien was crying his eyes out, Nino’s sensitive ears had caught the muffled sound of snickering as Adrien was leaving the room. Scratching his head, Nino glanced back at Marinette who was shaking on her desk.</p><p>As Nino frowned in concern, he leaned forward. As the closest person, he was the first one to hear her sputtering laughter and he leaned back in shock. Both of his friends were laughing at a dude talking about how Marinette was totally his type.</p><p>If they were really fake dating, Nino was pretty sure Adrien would be more worried about Marinette deciding to drop him for a real relationship. Nino sat in his seat as he pondered. If they were fake dating Marinette would… actually, Marinette would probably be laughing in mortification right now.</p><p>Glancing back, Nino confirmed it was one for one, unless Adrien genuinely didn’t see Marinette as a possible love interest, hence laughing at the very idea. Nino frowned and scratched at his short, invisible beard in contemplation. That would be a bit mean of Adrien, but he was still not up to date on social niceties, so it was possible.</p><p>Nino sighed. Whatever was up with those two, he was sure they’d fill him and Alya in eventually. Until then, Nino resigned himself to the shenanigans.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. All According to Plan</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which progress is made, the plot is revealed, and desperation is seen.</p><p>Alternatively, Chat has concerns, and Marinette doesn't.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Oh yeah. It's all coming together now. </p><p>If anything confuses you, please let me know, but if I don't answer, please assume it's because I'm resisting the urge to spoil things.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>To Adrien’s glee, and Marinette’s secret satisfaction, the opportunity to make sure Hawkmoth caught them making out arose an astounding 8 times in the following two weeks. To everyone else, they remained chaste, sweetly holding hands, and insisting they would never kiss willy-nilly.</p><p> </p><p>Adrien was surprised to have his father joining him for meals an incredible three times in that two week period. The first time, his father had just cleared his throat when Adrien began to grab his things. If he had stopped for conversation, he would have messed up his schedule, so he waved awkwardly at his Father before running off.</p><p> </p><p>The second time his Father joined him for a lunch, but Adrien was in a rush to get back to Marinette. As he gobbled his food, he explained “Sorry, Father, but if I don’t hurry, the girls are going to corner my friend again, and I can’t just let that happen.” As Gabriel asked who this friend was, Adrien was already heading out the door, but he paused to smile back at Gabriel.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s my really good friend Marinette, Father. You liked her derby hat, remember? Gotta run, sorry!” Adrien noticed the conflicted expression on his father’s face as he ran, and made note to inform Marinette that his father was suspicious. Their plan was otherwise working well.</p><p> </p><p>Every day, Adrien came to class with at least one flower for Marinette, if not an entire bunch. No one else realized they usually had some aphids hidden around the blooms, but Adrien could always hear her discreetly licking her lips during class. Adrien often laughed at his cute girlfriend’s mid-class snacking, ignoring the foot lightly kicking his hip, and Nino’s questioning glance.</p><p> </p><p>Whenever the couple parted ways, Adrien made sure to give her an innocent, lingering cheek kiss, perfect for tabloids to catch, and make others swoon at the romance. The number of times they’d been photographed giving cheek kisses was innumerable. Their closest friends were reluctantly convinced the relationship was a sham, while everyone else was convinced it was real.</p><p> </p><p>When Marinette and Adrien told Marinette’s parents it wasn’t a real relationship, they had to have a detailed explanation of what exactly they’d agreed upon. Adrien smiled as he remembered Marinette’s flush. Explaining to her parents that holding hands, cheek kisses, hands around shoulders and waists and lingering hand kisses were the most they would do had been mortifying.</p><p> </p><p>Adrien wasn’t convinced they believed the relationship to be fake, but they played along well, winking and sending him upstairs to wake Marinette on weekends. Adrien most enjoyed flopping onto Marinette’s bed, and quickly learned the quickest way to wake Marinette was to leave his shoes on when he climbed on her bed. He’d been too shocked to react the first time Marinette snarled in outrage before bodily removing him from her bed, sputtering about ‘cleanliness’.</p><p> </p><p>He then realized it was the ultimate weapon. Akuma at 3 a.m.? Land feet first on her bed, and wake her up. He’d be thrown out of the window, but she’d quickly follow, and they could get the akuma taken care of even quicker. If they were quick enough, they had time for discreet kissing in her bed before he was kicked out until morning.</p><p> </p><p>If she was running late for class? Toss a shoe on her bed, and she’d chase him down to try to make him eat said shoe before screaming at the time and scrambling to get ready. Adrien would laugh himself silly watching her brush her hair and tie her shoes at the same time. Once she started to brush her hair with her toothbrush and Adrien was the one marked down as tardy because he literally couldn’t stand up.</p><p> </p><p>The couple were well-regarded by everyone they met. Often the comments revolved around how happy they were together, how discreet and well-put-together they kept their romance. They were ‘sweethearts’ and ‘cinnamon rolls’ and ‘too innocent for this world’. Adrien and Marinette laughed daily at the incorrect beliefs, congratulating each other on following the plan.</p><p> </p><p>The third time Adrien’s father joined him for a meal, Adrien wasn’t able to leave early. They sat in silence before Adrien began prattling on about his day, liberally sprinkling Marinette’s name in the retelling. When Gabriel leaned forward in interest, Adrien grew nervous. Adrien had hoped his father would take things well.</p><p> </p><p>“So you and this Marinette, you are truly a couple?” Gabriel asked smoothly. Adrien swallowed, wishing Marinette was here to help him sell the lies. Adrien gave an overly awkward grin and scratched at his neck, chuckling.</p><p> </p><p>“Actually, Father, it’s not a real relationship at all.” Gabriel sat back, obviously shocked. Adrien noticed Plagg cataloguing his father’s reaction, and concentrated on selling the story. “We’re doing it for the publicity. You see, we did this at the ski resort, and got all kinds of perks because we were ‘such a cute couple’ right?” Adrien tilted his head and looked up at Gabriel.</p><p> </p><p>Gabriel frowned down at Adrien. “I’m not certain I approve of a fake relationship, Adrien. It isn’t right.” Adrien frowned back.</p><p> </p><p>“You didn’t seem to mind when Lila was angling for one.” Gabriel looked shocked at Adrien’s daring, and mildly flustered at the implications.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not sure what you’re referring to. I was reassured you two were sweet on each other,” Gabriel was cut off.</p><p> </p><p>“By who?” Adrien’s voice sounded disgusted, and Gabriel noticed with confusion the revulsion spreading across Adrien’s face.</p><p> </p><p>“Certainly not me. I can’t stand her. I much prefer Marinette. She never grabs me and kisses me,” Gabriel’s face twitched, but Adrien didn’t notice.</p><p> </p><p>“Marinette doesn’t cling onto my arm so hard I lose feeling or get bruises,” Gabriel noticeably frowned.</p><p> </p><p>“And most importantly, Marinette smells heavenly, whereas Lila’s smell is,” Adrien’s nose wrinkled. “Well, it’s as fake as the stories she tells.” Gabriel stiffly leaned back.</p><p> </p><p>“So explain the rules of your fake relationship to me, then.” Gabriel looked shocked, and somewhat disbelieving as Adrien listed out the same ‘rules’ he and Marinette had told the Dupain-Chengs. To Adrien’s shock, Gabriel actually frowned at him with confusion and displeasure.</p><p> </p><p>“So you’re telling me you don’t make out with her?” Adrien shook his head no, heart thrumming in his chest nervously. “Never?” Gabriel pressed. Adrien felt his heart pounding in his ears, but maintained the lie.</p><p> </p><p>“I see.” Gabriel stood abruptly. “I will have to consider this relationship further. Do not make any changes to your arrangements until I have told you otherwise. Understood?” Adrien stuttered out a reply as Gabriel swiftly left. Once Adrien was sure the coast was clear, he grabbed his things and ran to inform Marinette of the results.</p><p> </p><p>Adrien ignored the dread pooling in his gut as the evidence began to stack up. It wasn’t conclusive yet.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>OMAKE:</p><p> </p><p>“Chat, you have to!”</p><p> </p><p>*smacksuckleslurp*</p><p> </p><p>*kisssmoochchuu*</p><p> </p><p>“Chat, stop!” Marinette begged out in a gasp. Chat hummed as he moved to her throat, eagerly biting down and making Marinette shudder and squeal with her rapidly weakening voice. Marinette let out a breathy sigh as she grabbed her boyfriend by his ears. Chat growled before reluctantly leaning back.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s gotten into you?” Marinette asked. Chat’s ears drooped. Marinette wrapped him in a hug automatically, as he leaned down and nibbled at the edge of her shirt suggestively. When Marinette limited her reaction to only a slight shift, he sighed in defeat.</p><p> </p><p>“I feel like we’re living on borrowed time right now.” Chat admitted in a low voice. “We know Hawkbutt is someone close to us, we know he’ll know we’re lying, and we know he’s going to call us out one way or another. But how are we going to take him down?”</p><p> </p><p>Marinette hummed thoughtfully. “You see, Chat. What I noticed in the timeline we lost was that there were only three miraculous active when the world ended.”</p><p>Marinette pushed Chat away, just enough so their eyes could meet.</p><p> </p><p>“Yours.” Marinette poked him.</p><p> </p><p>“Mine.” Marinette winked at him.</p><p> </p><p>“And his.” Marinette raised her eyebrows.</p><p> </p><p>“So we’re not going into this fight without back up. We have friends we can count on, and we’re going to take advantage of that. No matter what, we’re not alone. As soon as he calls us out, we’re informing our friends of everything, and getting the backup we need. We’re going to end this, Chat. Together.” Marinette stared deeply into Chat’s eyes. Marinette let the love she felt for this boy well up and overflow from her eyes, and saw the moment he relaxed into her.</p><p> </p><p>Marinette could feel the love radiating from her partner, her prince. As she hugged him to her chest, they both refused to admit they already knew who Hawkbutt most likely was. This time was theirs, and they would bide it until Hawkbutt made his fatal error.</p><p> </p><p>Demanding they break up.</p><p> </p><p>OMAKE:</p><p> </p><p>Tikki listened by the trap door, finally aware of what the two were planning. With a satisfied hum, Tikki flew down to talk to the other kwami in the miracle box. Now that she knew their plan, she could make her own.</p><p> </p><p>Everyone could use some help from Lady Luck, after all.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Overprepped? Never heard of her.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Marinette plots, Adrien enjoys, and everyone else suffers for it. </p><p>Alternatively, SQUIRREL!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry! I've had this typed up for a few weeks, but didn't get around to reading it through and posting it until now. IF you aren't aware, squirrels are not common in Paris, particularly the grey ones. We're gearing up for the final battle now. I don't imagine there's more than four chapters left, but I'll wait to finish them before putting a final counter down.</p><p>In other news, first one to figure out what Tikki gives Plagg gets to give me a fic idea to write for them. ;) Good luck!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Proceed with Caution 6</p><p>Adrien ran off to school the next morning with an eye peeled for any akuma. At school, he offered Marinette kisses on the cheek when he saw her, a small change from the norm, but one that Nino and Alya noticed with frowns. With a sweet smile, he gently tucked a single flower he’d plucked on the way behind her left ear.</p><p>Adrien stuck closer to Marinette than usual as well. He insisted on holding her hand, threading it through his arm so she was wrapped around his arm and pressed closely to him as much as possible. Marinette complied without a word, obviously aware something had happened. Adrien glanced around and gently kissed the side of her head in silent thanks.</p><p>“What’s up Sunshine? You look stressed.” Alya gently pointed out. Adrien gave her a strained grin, while Marinette grimaced at Alya and Nino. Nino wrapped a supportive arm around Alya. If history had anything to say, it was likely about Adrien’s old man.</p><p>“I told my father about our relationship last night.” Adrien admitted. Alya and Nino frowned. Nino stepped forward, subtly creating a huddle.</p><p>“Does he know it’s, y’know,” Nino’s voice dropped to a quiet whisper. “Not real?” Adrien nodded at him with serious eyes. Nino felt a chill of foreboding run down his back and shivered, unable to shake it.</p><p>“Yeah, he said he didn’t approve, but to continue as we are for the time being.” Adrien didn’t noticeably raise his voice, but he also didn’t lower his voice, allowing nearby girls to hear. The outbreak of whispers soon overtook the school. Nino and Alya remained concerned about Adrien’s situation, but Adrien and Marinette shared grim smiles. They were entering the final countdown now.</p><p>To jumpstart the lunch hour, a handy akuma showed up, searching for Marinette. “YOU ARE CAUSING ADRIEN TROUUUBLE!” The akuma screamed. Adrien immediately grabbed Marinette and ran. Rather than running to transform, they looked for one of the few classrooms with two exits. Eventually they made it to the art room, which was connected to a dark room for the aspiring photographers.</p><p>With more exuberance than Marinette had expected, Adrien attacked. She found herself quickly pressed flat against an art table, legs wrapping around Adrien’s waist automatically as her hands threaded in his hair. The heat of Adrien’s body pressed down on her, almost smothering the breath out of her. What breath she had left, Adrien made every attempt to steal.</p><p>Marinette soon grew dizzy, disoriented and overwhelmed by the passion Adrien was showering her with. So that would be the perfect moment for the akuma to break into the room and freeze. This time Adrien and Marinette both were able to see the mask cover the akuma’s face as they screeched in disbelief. They could hear the akuma muttering “No! Nononono! Why is Adrien pushing HER down?!”</p><p>That was their cue. Adrien grabbed Marinette’s hands, kissed her one more time, fiercely but briefly, and dragged her into the dark room. Marinette then led him through to the room hidden past it. Nodding together, they transformed, opened the window, and jumped out of the large windows that were kept closed to prevent squirrels from destroying the artwork.</p><p>Together they burst through the art room’s windows to see the akuma crying on the ground. Ladybug straightened in confusion. “Are you… okay?” She asked cautiously. Chat Noir crouched, prepared for a trap, and Ladybug held her yo-yo ready, but the akuma just continued to cry.</p><p>“I thought he didn’t want her, and she was using him.” The akuma cried. Heavy tears made streaks down her green skin. “But he was so passionate.” The akuma’s purple lips quivered. “She wasn’t making him kiss her, he wanted to.” The akuma broke into fresh sobs.</p><p>“I’m, sorry?” Ladybug offered. She knew what the akuma was talking about, but as Ladybug she definitely wasn’t supposed to. How do you console the victim when you made them cry without telling them you did it? Chat Noir remained on guard, quickly poking at the akuma’s clothes to find what didn’t belong.</p><p>As the cap to Adrien’s perfume rolled out of her pocket and Chat Noir stepped on it, the akuma fluttered free. The girl continued to cry. “I don’t have a chance after all.” She sobbed, even as Ladybug caught the akuma and returned the school to rights. Ladybug grimaced, feeling guilty for using this girl’s feelings to advance their plan, but Chat Noir dropped a supportive hand on her shoulder before crouching to talk to the girl.</p><p>“It’s never wrong to love someone, but you should always respect what they want. This dude obviously wants that other girl, so it’s his loss that he missed a cutie like you, right?” Chat Noir winked at the girl, who blushed and giggled at the cat hero. After a minute, she nodded at him, and he patted her on the head. “I’m sure there’s someone out there looking for you right now. It’ll be okay.”</p><p>Ladybug reached down to help the girl stand, subtly hip-bumping her partner who chuckled. As Ladybug opened her mouth, still unsure what she should say, a small group of girls burst into the room. “Marie! We’re so sorry! He doesn’t deserve you anyway!” Ladybug looked a little annoyed, but she smiled and waved as she and Chat Noir jumped back out of the restored windows, opening them this time.</p><p>Chat Noir stifled his laughter when he heard Ladybug muttering under her breath. “He doesn’t DEsErVE You.” She mimicked. “She’s not worth it, pah!” Chat grabbed Ladybug and pole vaulted them back to the room they originally jumped out of. To their surprise, a squirrel stood on the only table available, holding a photo cutter in both claws.</p><p>Ladybug and Chat Noir gaped at the squirrel, who stared back as it slowly set the cutter back down. Ladybug murmured. “I thought it was an urban legend.” Chat Noir snorted, and the squirrel jumped at them. Screaming, they ran in opposite directions as the squirrel jumped past them and back out of the window it came in. They could hear people coming, so they quickly transformed back and huddled together, staring out the window.</p><p>As the girls they’d seen earlier rushed into the room in alarm, Marinette continued to stare out the window, while Adrien began laughing. “You won’t believe this, but a squirrel came in.” He offered. The girls stood up from their alarmed crouches, rolling their eyes disbelievingly.</p><p>“If you were going to lie, you could have said pigeons, you know.” The previous akuma victim huffed and turned to stalk away. Marinette shakily pointed a hand out of the window with a wordless whimper. The other girls followed the finger to find a squirrel staring back from the building across the way. As the squirrel ominously spread its arms, the room descended into screams as everyone rushed to close the window before it came back.</p><p>**********************</p><p>With the rest of the lunch period free, Adrien accompanied Marinette back to her place for lunch. Together, Marinette and Adrien called Master Fu, letting him know that Hawkmoth would soon confirm his identity, and they needed to be ready to move when he did. Marinette assured Master Fu he wouldn’t be needed to fight, but he would need to be their transporter for the other heroes.</p><p>Master Fu was still slowly recovering his memories, carefully guided by Marinette’s potions, but he was eager to lend a hand. He promised to have Kaalki’s favorite foods available at all times, and his phone on its loudest setting.</p><p>Adrien had to admit, when Fu had given up the miraculous box and lost his memories, he’d been rather concerned about the future, but as always, Marinette came through. Together they had parsed the book, finding a potion to restore a guardian’s memory. Adrien was very relieved Marinette wouldn’t end up an amnesiac later in life.</p><p>So Marinette gave Master Fu a very generic outline of the plan, telling him to meet the heroes at the Grand Paris Hotel when Ladybug called and asked him to. Master Fu would keep Kaalki for the next few weeks, and be ready to transport everyone to Ladybug’s location at a moment’s notice.</p><p>After hanging up with Master Fu, Marinette planned out the best time to approach Alya and Nino about taking up the mask for one last battle. Adrien was surprised but pleased to learn his best friends were his Super Teammates. He happily mused to Marinette that it just made sense. Of course their best friends would have their backs.</p><p>Chloe was a sore subject. On the one hand, Adrien wanted to include her. She’d been trying to be a better person, and hadn’t even done anything to Marinette since her akumatization weeks ago. It was definite progress! On the other hand, she had betrayed them and led to most of the heroes being outted, preventing Ladybug and Chat Noir from getting help as often as they’d like. Ultimately, Marinette decided she wouldn’t feel safe with someone that cooperated with Hawkmoth once behind her, and Chloe was struck from the roster.</p><p>Adrien and Tikki both worked to convince Marinette that Luka and Kagami should also be called in, and she eventually conceded, but refused to consider handing out any others. If they lost, they couldn’t afford to give Hawkmoth any more miraculous. Over the rest of the day, Ladybug and Chat Noir discreetly pulled aside their teammates, leaving them with a kwami and warning to be ready for a final battle anytime in the coming weeks.</p><p>When Adrien finally returned home from his exceedingly busy day, he found his father at the dinner table. Adrien felt a panic attack forming, and worked hard to take deep breaths, holding it down. Contrary to his fears, his father simply asked that he bring Marinette for dinner tomorrow night, as he’d like to meet Adrien’s partner in crime.</p><p>Adrien agreed, knowing Marinette would clear her schedule to be with him for this. It may end up being the final battle. With that sobering thought, Adrien transformed and went to spend one last night with his Beloved before it all went down.</p><p>OMAKE:</p><p>Tikki worked hard to get the charms she made ready in time, discreetly handing them out to her kwami brethren while Marinette and Adrien were planning. When Tikki gave Plagg the star, she fixed him with a serious glare.</p><p>“If you don’t need this, for kwami’s sake, don’t use it.” The other kwami snickered, familiar with what the charm would do. Plagg pouted.</p><p>“But Tiks, it’s FUN.” Tikki towered over Plagg threateningly.</p><p>“It’s destruction incarnate and can be misused if the need isn’t dire.”</p><p>Plagg pouted but agreed. “Fine. Only use if dire need. Got it.” He made grabby hands at the star. “Now Gimme gimme!”</p><p>Tikki begrudgingly handed it over, already regretting it.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Dinner for Three? Two? One?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Marinette and Adrien get the deets, Gabriel gets outted, and everyone gets angry. </p><p>Alternatively, dinner parties are not Gabriel's strong suit.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Proceed with Caution 7</p><p>“Do I look alright?” Marinette smiled at Adrien shyly when he came to pick her up for dinner the next night. What appeared to be a dress at first soon revealed itself to be a flowy romper, with elegant scooped sleeves and subtle cat designs interwoven through the material. Adrien felt a smile pulling at his lips. Even when they were possibly going to face the worst night of their lives, his beloved still paid homage to their partnership.</p><p>“You look beautiful, Mari.” Marinette flushed, smacking him gently in the chest as she passed him to put on her shoes. As she bent down, his eyes studied her hair bun. It was certainly a new style for her, and it hid her ears from view even better than her pigtails tended to with the wisps she had teased out. “Is that a new hairstyle?” Adrien asked, wondering what she’d say.</p><p>“Well, it’s not new exactly but it is more professional, and it doesn’t look like a certain celebrity, if you know what I mean.” Marinette smirked at Adrien, and he smiled back, utterly smitten. Of course she would still think of ways to keep their identities secret, even as they attempted to ferret out Hawkbutt’s. Together, they climbed in the car and headed for dinner.</p><p>“Well, a romper isn’t what I would normally consider to be dinner attire, Ms. Cheng.” The cold admonishment was the first welcome they received as they stepped through the front door together. Gabriel Agreste greeted Adrien’s guest with a frost they had anticipated, but hoped would be absent. Exchanging a glance, they straightened their shoulders and backs, standing together as they raised their chins almost in unison.</p><p>“My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Marinette spoke clearly and without aggression. “I know it’s a mouthful, so if you’re having trouble remembering it all, please, just call me Marinette.” Marinette finished with a polite and unassuming smile directed at Gabriel. Adrien studiously worked to keep his face from showing his surprised admiration for Marinette’s daring. Gabriel’s eyebrow twitched, and his frown deepened. Marinette gave him a nod. “But it’s nice to meet you again, Mr. Agreste.”</p><p>“Quite.” Gabriel replied. Marinette coolly raised an eyebrow at his dismissive reply, but effortlessly reached to hold Adrien’s arm without looking. Adrien easily hooked their arms together, smiled at Marinette with open affection and sent a polite smile up at his father.</p><p>“Well, shall we retire to the dining room?” Adrien suggested in his brightest voice. He knew his job was to provide the rope, while Marinette’s was setting the stage. Whether his father hung himself was still in the air, and a quiet part of Adrien still hoped for his father to prove his innocence tonight.</p><p>“Indeed.” His father confidently descended the stairs and led the way to the dining room. Marinette made a good show of looking impressed but not intimidated by the house. Adrien was quietly amused at her silly charade. He already knew from their frequent conversations that she preferred a warm, lived-in atmosphere to the mausoleum she was seeing.</p><p>In the dining room, Adrien made an elegant bow as he escorted her into the seat across from his, smiling and treating her like a princess. He then hurried to his seat and winked at her, causing her and the server to smile at his silly flirting. His father huffed irritably but said nothing until the staff had served the first course and left the room.</p><p>“If you’re not dating, you can knock off the theatrics, Adrien.” Gabriel sat at the end of the table as though presiding over court, and Adrien shifted in his seat, a strained smile on his face. Adrien and Marinette exchanged glances.</p><p>“Well, I could, but it’s pretty fun! And you never know who’s on social media giving ‘the latest scoop’, father.” Adrien explained. Gabriel’s face twisted in irritation. He began to devour his food slowly, as though the food had offended him and he was rending flesh from bones instead of a cooked, civilized meal. Adrien and Marinette glanced at each other frequently, exchanging smiles and encouraging faces.</p><p>“I pay them enough that they should be keeping everything they see off of any media.” Mr. Agreste muttered. “Adrien tells me this relationship is fake.” Marinette startled at the non-sequitur, immediately looking up at him from her boyfriend. Gabriel’s eyes bored into hers, his utensils settled back on the table as though he’d never touched them.</p><p>“Yes sir, that’s true.” Marinette smiled back at him easily as she too set her utensil down. Gabriel’s eyes narrowed in suspicion and irritation.</p><p>“It seems foolish to play around with the public in such a way. When you’re caught, you’ll both be made into laughingstocks.” Gabriel pronounced judgment as though he’d seen it all happen already. He sneered down his nose at Marinette as though daring her to disagree with his wisdom.</p><p>Marinette smiled pleasantly, but with a bit of teeth. Adrien sighed dreamily. She always looked so amazing when she was about to metaphorically tear strips out of someone’s hide. “Well, we’ve been very careful to keep the relationship innocent. Besides the original ‘passionate kiss’ that we both agreed to ahead of time, we’ve kept all public displays of affection to chaste cheek and hand kisses, some hand holding, and occasional cuddling together.”</p><p>Adrien was watching his father hopefully. If the expression on his face softened in acceptance that Marinette was being truthful, they’d have to keep looking for Hawkmoth, but at least it wouldn’t be his father. If he remained certain they were up to other things, then they would have to keep feeding him rope, letting his father hang himself with his own words.</p><p>To Adrien’s despair, his father’s nose flared in anger, and his eyes narrowed further. “Do not lie to my face, girl. You’ve been running off to make out for weeks. Just admit you’re a gold digger, seducing my idiot child to get to our fortune.” Adrien gulped back tears at the confidence in his father’s voice and bravely moved forward with the plan.</p><p>“What do you mean, father? Why would you even think such a thing? Marinette is amazing, and she would never use me without my permission.” Adrien pasted an innocent look of confusion on his face and drew Gabriel’s attention. “Was it Lila? I’ve told you she lies, father.”</p><p>Adrien watched the anger growing in his father’s eyes before Gabriel took a deep breath and attempted to hold back his feelings. Despite Gabriel’s best attempt, the anger still clearly showed. His brows were tightly furrowed, his jaw was clenched with the effort to not yell, and his nose was flaring. Adrien numbly cataloged them.</p><p>“I cannot believe you would sit and lie to my face like this, Adrien. You’re such a disappointment.” Gabriel threw his napkin down. “I demand you cease all relations with this parasite, effective immediately.” Gabriel spat out.</p><p>Gabriel stood and stalked toward the door. “She is to leave at once and never contact you again. She’s obviously sullied you already. And I’ve seen the evidence myself, so cease lying, you foolish dimwitted children.” Adrien drew in a heartbroken breath, while Marinette stood slowly, stopping Gabriel’s dramatic exit before he could finish.</p><p>“Where would you have seen any evidence of something we haven’t done, Mr. Agreste?” Marinette smoothly asked, challengingly resting her hands on her hips. His association with Hawkmoth was confirmed, but Adrien quietly held to the hope that maybe his father was duped into helping. Perhaps his father wasn’t actually Hawkmoth, but his helper. “You have no proof of anything, and I will not stop dating Adrien.” Adrien smiled wryly at Marinette’s refusal.</p><p>Mr. Agreste swung around and stalked back, rage clear in every step. “You bold-faced lying hussy. I’ve seen the proof with my very eyes! Your dirty attempts to sleep your way into this family and business will end here, or I will ruin your life!”</p><p>Adrien tightly closed his eyes, and fought back tears. So his father truly was Hawkmoth. This was the proof they needed, but Adrien felt his heart break just a little more with every word he heard. Adrien finally set his own utensil down and gathered himself. He couldn’t leave his lady to face Hawkmoth alone, not now, not ever.</p><p>Adrien stood as well, rapidly walking to stand beside Marinette. They both stared up at Gabriel with calm refusal painted across their faces. Adrien watched his father’s face turn puce with fury when he reached to hold Marinette’s hand. “I won’t break up with her.” He told his father resolutely.</p><p>“Then you’ll never leave this house again.” His father threatened. Having expected the threat, neither blinked twice. Adrien felt Marinette thrumming with anger and fear, but not a bit of it showed on her face or demeanor. He calmly maintained his resolute expression. Marinette and Ladybug were worth any sacrifice.</p><p>“You do realize he’ll be an adult soon, and confining him to his home could be considered kidnapping or unlawful confinement, yes?” Marinette idly asked. Adrien sharply watched for any remorse in his father, but found none.</p><p>“Foolish idiot. I’m his father. I have enough money to have him declared under house arrest for his own safety indefinitely. I’m sure I could swing some kind of doctor assessment stating he’s unable to make decisions for himself as well. And I will do whatever it takes to keep him safe from lowlifes like you.” Mr. Agreste sneered. Marinette’s face barely twitched, but Adrien could tell the threat terrified her. He was suddenly glad Plagg was recording the conversation.</p><p>Adrien squeezed her hand supportively before responding. “Why would you go so far to keep me from my friends? Marinette is one of the best things to ever happen to me.”</p><p>“They’re beneath you! They’re beneath both of us! They’re clinging to your coattails because they haven’t a smidgeon of talent, and you’re letting them! I knew letting you out of the house was a mistake! You’re too idiotic to understand the dangers outside these walls! It will be rectified immediately. Go to your room. I’ll have this harlot tossed out on her ear.” Mr. Agreste’s condescending tirade killed the last of Adrien’s hope to find any kind of reconciliation after this.</p><p>“I see.” Adrien replied. “I believe I’ll escort my girlfriend out myself then. I refuse to break up with her, and I refuse to be locked away here. Marinette will be my friend and possibly more regardless of my last name, you see. In fact, Adrien Dupain-Cheng has a lovely ring to it.” Adrien began escorting Marinette out. He kept a careful eye on his father’s hands as they twitched as though resisting the urge to throttle someone.</p><p>To no one’s surprise, the staff scattered from the door when Adrien flung it open. Adrien sent back a chiding look at his father as though saying ‘See? This will be on social media quicker than you can snuff it.’ Adrien escorted Marinette to the door, and lovingly kissed her cheek while his father watched from the doorway. Adrien ignored the phones he could see a couple of staff members discreetly pointing at the debacle.</p><p>As Adrien lingered over her cheek, he softly whispered. “See you soon, Milady.” He felt Plagg leave his pocket briefly before returning, lighter than before. With this, Ladybug and Chat Noir had all the evidence they needed, and they’d be dropping in on Hawkmoth before he knew what hit him. Adrien closed his eyes and bittersweetly committed this moment to memory. It was likely to be the last time ‘Adrien’ saw his father outside of prison.</p><p>“Please be safe, Marinette. I’ll see you soon.”</p><p>“See you soon, beau gosse.” Marinette replied.</p><p>“You’ll never see each other again!” An enraged Gabriel roared. They sighed together before separating.</p><p>They had a job to do.</p><p> </p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Hawkmoth's going down! Eventually.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which plans are made and agreements are reached. </p><p>Alternatively, did you try turning it off and back on again?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Story is completely written, I'm just giving it a couple days before editing the final chapter and posting it. It's a whopper. But enjoy the lead-up (this chapter)! </p><p>....and if you have any suggestions/requests, now's your last chance!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Proceed with Caution 8</p><p>“First we confirm the evidence, then I call for back up. But before any of that, I need to set up where I can see if any butterflies leave the mansion.” Marinette muttered to Tikki as she rapidly walked down the driveway to leave the Agreste mansion. Leaving the gates, she quickly jogged into an alley and checked for cameras and bystanders before transforming and swinging to the top of the building. In her free hand, Ladybug held the recorder and Marinette’s cell phone.</p><p>“…have enough money….”</p><p>“Beneath both of us!”</p><p>“Never see each other again!”</p><p>Ladybug smiled grimly. She hadn’t been sure Plagg had caught that last roar, but apparently Agreste’s fury had been strong enough that his voice came through loud and clear. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ladybug easily dropped the recorder into her yo-yo’s storage before returning her gaze to the rooftop. Fiddling with her phone thoughtfully, Ladybug thought over the next step.</p><p>If a butterfly emerged, they would have every bit of evidence necessary to break in, but even without it, Gabriel had clearly outed himself as Hawkmoth when he admitted to seeing them canoodling with his own eyes. No one besides the various akuma had seen them kiss since the bus incident. Ladybug blinked as something fluttered out of the churchlike windows in the back of the house.</p><p>Ladybug brushed a tear away as she stood to track the butterfly and hit call on Adrien’s name. Ladybug’s eyes mapped out the shape of his face on the contact avatar for a second before he immediately answered.</p><p>“Butterfly?” Adrien asked in a low voice. Ladybug could hear the heartbreak in her boyfriend’s voice, and her heart clenched in sympathy. Ladybug cleared her throat and began to leap after the bug.</p><p>“Butterfly.” Ladybug confirmed, moving to chase the butterfly down as she heard Adrien hang up. Within twenty seconds, Chat Noir was jumping away from the mansion, following Ladybug as she stalked their prey. Feeling Chat behind her, Ladybug steadied herself on the rooftop three houses over from the Agreste mansion and silently offered Chat her cellphone.</p><p>“I’ll call Fu.” Chat quietly muttered as he accepted the phone. Ladybug swung her yo-yo around and quickly snapped up the malicious butterfly. With Chat’s soothing voice carried away by the wind, Ladybug brought her yo-yo to her face and stared down sadly. Normally she would release the purified butterfly, but right now, that might give Hawkmoth a leg up.</p><p>Ladybug replaced the yo-yo on her hip and turned to her partner. Chat murmured his goodbyes and hung up as she watched. Then he offered her the phone with a sad smile. Ladybug accepted the phone and held onto his hand.</p><p>“Are we calling as you, or as the heroes?” Chat asked. If Ladybug used Marinette’s phone, it was likely her identity would be compromised, but Ladybug couldn’t make calls on the yo-yo while the butterfly was trapped inside. Ladybug sighed before reaching for Chat’s baton.</p><p>“Calling as the heroes. While everything might end tonight, it’s still best to be safe.” Ladybug gently explained. Ladybug quickly entered Alya’s number and waited for the girl to pick up.</p><p>“Alya. Send out the signal on the Ladyblog and get to the tower for transport. We’ve found Hawkmoth.”</p><p>************************************************************</p><p>While it felt like hours, Ladybug was sure the group teleported into the street in front of the Agreste mansion within fifteen minutes of her call. Ladybug wrapped an arm around Chat Noir and let him carry them both back to the ground. Ladybug noticed that Viperion and Ryuuko looked different, with longer hair and bolder color schemes for both. With a bit of exasperation, Ladybug noticed Carapace and Rena were dressed the same as usual.</p><p>Ladybug purposely kept her eyes away from Master Fu’s interesting ensemble. She could only handle so many mind-breaking events in one night, and she was sure there was more to the story than desiring world domination when it came to Hawkmoth.</p><p>“Everyone, thank you for coming. Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth. Adrien and Marinette helped us catch him admitting to knowledge only Hawkmoth would have, so please don’t believe they were involved. We suspect Nathalie may be Mayura, and we’re unsure of the loyalty and knowledge of any other employees in the mansion.”</p><p>Viperion raised a hand nervously. “Did it have something to do with demanding they break up? Because that’s trending on twitter right now.” Chat and Ladybug gaped at him while the others nodded in confirmation.</p><p>“It’s already trending? How?!” Chat gasped. “It’s been less than an hour!” He exclaimed.</p><p>Ryuuko answered his question with her blunt monotone. “They’re considered Paris’s sweet-heart power couple. The staff in the mansion were incensed at the heartlessness of their employer and decided to risk their jobs to post about all the suspicious stuff Mr. Agreste has done over the years. After reading some of them, I’m not even surprised he’s Hawkmoth.”</p><p>Ladybug tried to control her face, but had to cover her mouth as she could just barely hear the muttered “At least this way I can hit him.” Ryuuko quietly tacked on. Carapace turned to Ryuuko with sudden interest.</p><p>“I get first punch!” Carapace demanded. Ryuuko stood straight, prepared to fight his demand.</p><p>“No way! His son is my friend!” She demanded implacably.</p><p>“His son is MY BEST friend!” Carapace hissed adamantly. Ryuuko immediately leaned back to look him over while the other heroes studied Carapace with surprise. Before anyone could accidentally reveal their identity, Ladybug jumped forward.</p><p>“Right! I think we all have multiple bones to pick with him. For now, we’re going to agree that whoever gets the shot takes it, okay?” Ladybug stared down the protests, before quietly handing the recorder and her cell phone over to Master Fu. “You know what to do.” She reminded him.</p><p>Master Fu nodded, before silently creating a new portal and disappearing. Ladybug rushed to redirect the heroes before another argument could break out.</p><p>“Alright, so I saw where the butterflies come from. We’re going to split into two teams. One team will enter from Adrien’s room, and the other will burst in through the window after the first team is in place. Chat Noir and Viperion, you two will be the first team. Chat Noir has learned the route from Adrien already. You’re first going to track down and subdue Nathalie if you can, and then find the lair. Once you’re in position, Chat will call Ryuuko. The rest of you will be waiting on the roof with me.”</p><p>Ladybug turned to each hero as Chat quietly shook Viperion’s hand. “Rena, I hope you brought plenty of food for Trixx. You’re going to create an illusion of Chat Noir with us, and stay on the roof out of sight until the battle is over one way or another. Create a new Chat Noir each time he disappears, keep Hawkmoth from realizing you’re here at all costs, and be sure to record everything.”</p><p>“Carapace, you’ll stay on the roof unless you think you need to use shell-tier. If you do, try to stay on the roof and just throw the shell to protect us. Then recharge and be available to join the fray if you feel we need you. If you jump in, have Rena cover you with an illusion of Chat so Hawkmoth won’t be expecting your fighting style.”</p><p>Carapace grimaced, and Ladybug could read the reluctance in his face. She rolled her eyes. “If Chat says it’s okay, we’ll let you punch him once after the battle if you don’t get the chance to join. Fair?” With that incentive, Carapace finally nodded. With an aggrieved sigh, Ladybug turned to a scowling Ryuuko.</p><p>“Am I to wait in the reserves as well?” Ryuuko growled. Ladybug blinked before scowling back.</p><p>“If you’re not able to control yourself, perhaps. I had planned to have you join me when I jump through the window to confront Hawkmoth, and keep me safe while I try to take his miraculous. Can you do that?” Ladybug challenged. Ryuuko immediately looked abashed, while Rena squawked and Carapace grumbled.</p><p>“At least Ryuuko and Viperion changed their outfits, you two! They’re safe to be seen, but I do still need someone that can keep a clear view of the whole showdown, Rena. You can even live stream it if you think you can keep your identity safe, but I don’t know if that’s feasible.” Ladybug studiously ignored the conspiring expressions on her friends’ faces.</p><p>Ladybug fixed each team member with a serious stare. “If he wins tonight, the world will still know who he is by daybreak, no matter what. He’s done too much damage, and he’s going down. Everyone with me?” Ladybug offered her fist, and each team member eagerly reached forward to join in. Maybe not every job was going to be glorious, but they were all necessary.</p><p>“Hawkmoth’s going down, on three!”</p><p>“One!”</p><p>“Two!”</p><p>“Three!”</p><p>“Hawkmoth’s going down!”</p><p>OMAKE:</p><p>“Hm.” Hawkmoth paced his conservatory. He’d lost the signal from his butterfly. While it happened occasionally, this was the longest his butterfly had stayed missing. It was almost a half hour since he’d sent it out.</p><p>“Nathalie. The signal isn’t coming back. Should I send a new one out?” Hawkmoth called through the intercom. He heard a sound that suspiciously resembled an aggrieved sigh.</p><p>“Did you try turning it off and back on again?” Nathalie stonily replied. Hawkmoth looked down at his cane, searching for a power button before realizing how silly that would be.</p><p>“There’s no power button, Nathalie, this is a super suit!” Hawkmoth barked. He was still simmering in fury from the insults his progeny and that harlot had thrown earlier. This time Hawkmoth was certain Nathalie was sighing at him.</p><p>“It’s a power suit. Power down and then back up, sir. That might fix the problem.” Hawkmoth sputtered before deciding to at least try it. Powering down, Gabriel glared at Nooroo, who had been looking around the lair in confusion.</p><p>“Well? I lost the butterfly. Should I send out a new one, or will I reconnect to it when we power back up?” Nooroo’s wide eyes stared up at Gabriel in confusion.</p><p>“I don’t know master. Did you try turning it off and back on again?” Gabriel shrieked in rage. He was surrounded by imbeciles!</p><p>“That’s what I’m doing now!” He yelled. Nooroo blinked at him before tilting his head.</p><p>“But you have a power button on the suit to reconnect to lost butterflies master. Didn’t I tell you?” Gabriel grabbed Nooroo tightly and squeezed. Nooroo changed his solidity but wore a mask of pain to appease his master.</p><p>“No, you. Did. Not. Tell. Me.” Gabriel gritted out. “Explain it all in detail, now!” Nooroo squeaked as though in too much pain to speak, and Gabriel softened his grip. Nooroo snorted quietly before giving a long winded explanation of where exactly the button should be, then where it could be if it wasn’t there, and then where the button might be if Gabriel still couldn’t find it.</p><p>“And if all else fails,” Nooroo ended brightly. “Always check the cane! It usually has a few options installed if you take the time to really get to know it!” Gabriel gave an aggrieved sigh.</p><p>“Very well, get back in the miraculous! Nooroo, Transform me!” As Nooroo was sucked back into the button, he sent a sneaky thumbs up at the window. Sometimes having the ability to sense emotions came in handy.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Alls well that ends well</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hawkmoth is confident, until he isn't. Ladybug is on the defensive, until she isn't. </p><p>Alternatively, read to find out.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>All done with the serious plot. If I add anything else, it'll be epilogues in a different 'story' but part of the series. I'm not sure I will. This series feels fairly rounded out to me at this point. But I'm always willing to hear ideas. I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think! Happy Reading!</p><p>Also, Mario Chat is courtesy of Sweetie!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Proceed with Caution (Rainbow Chat courtesy of Sweetie and APS discord)</p><p>As all plans do, everything fell apart quite quickly. Chat and Viperion separated from the others and infiltrated the mansion, quietly slipping into Adrien’s room. Once they were out of sight, the others moved to take their places. Carapace worriedly asked if Adrien was still inside, but Ladybug assured him they had evacuated Adrien as soon as his part was finished.</p><p>When Ladybug and her team settled around the frame of the window Ladybug had marked earlier, Rena Rouge immediately started recording with her phone. Rena stared at her phone in shock for a few seconds before hissing. “Ladybug! He’s de-transformed! We should take him out now!”</p><p>Ladybug glanced inside and caught Nooroo’s eyes. Ladybug smiled helplessly when Nooroo gave her a bright grin before schooling his face and turning back to Gabriel. Nooroo made a subtle signal with his paw behind his back. Ladybug wasn’t sure what it meant. As they watched, Gabriel transformed into Hawkmoth. He then began fiddling with his cane after checking his cape, his vest, and then the pockets of his outfit.</p><p>“Did you get that on tape?” Ladybug murmured to Rena, fighting down her pocket envy. Sometimes it felt like she was the only hero without a good set of pockets. Rena scoffed.</p><p>“Of course! We should have taken him down when he was a civilian! He’d have never seen it coming!” Rena hotly replied. Ladybug shook her head. Rena sighed and made sure the cell phone was still recording while she listened to the team leader.</p><p>“No, this is perfect. Save that short video and send it to be published to the Ladyblog in thirty minutes. By that point we may be in battle, or everything may be over, but the public will know. That was the last bit of evidence we needed.” Ladybug implacably replied. “Besides, taking down civilians would be a bit unfair as heroes, don’t you think?”</p><p>“Didn’t you send Chat and Viperboy to take down Nathalie? Isn’t she a civilian?” Carapace asked innocently. Ladybug examined his mischievous eyes and gave a playful glare at Ryuuko when she covered her face to hide a smile. Ladybug’s cheeks colored with embarrassment and she coughed to cover it.</p><p>“Well yes, but they aren’t really fighting her. They’re just going to knock her out and tie her up.” A window shattered as a chair hurtled out of it. The team silently watched as the chair hit the ground and broke, frozen for a moment. Ladybug cleared her throat. “Or maybe she’ll put up a fight and they’ll have to subdue her.”</p><p>A computer was next, falling out of the window and followed easily by a phone and tablet. Ladybug could only blink. That wasn’t part of the plan. Ladybug fixed her gaze on Ryuuko’s sword with a frown. They needed an update. Chat called Ryuuko just as Rena became agitated.</p><p>“Ladybug! He’s leaving! What do we do! Oh gosh, what should I do?!” Rena hissed frantically as Hawkmoth suddenly made his way towards a door in the wall. Ladybug scrambled for her yoyo as she heard a commotion over the call between Chat and Ryuuko. Rena fumbled to get her flute ready without putting her phone down, and dropped her flute, cursing.</p><p>“We have her tied up, but she told Hawkmoth we were here, LB! Ryuu-chan, we need back up! She didn’t go down easily! Vipie is bleeding!” Ladybug glanced at Ryuuko who nodded and braced herself. As the door split into an elevator and opened in the room below, Ladybug and Ryuuko jumped through the window and swung down, aiming for the elevator entrance.</p><p>Ryuuko landed on a knee a few yards away and sprinted for the opening where a gawking Hawkmoth was fumbling to pull a blade out of his cane in the limited space. Ladybug continued her swing and precisely aimed her feet for Hawkmoth’s chest as she landed inside the elevator. As Ladybug knocked Hawkmoth over, she rolled away and called her yoyo back to her. She heard a frantic scream.</p><p>“Ladybug! No!” Ladybug took a moment to glance away from Hawkmoth just as the elevator closed, leaving Ryuuko in the lair and Ladybug in close quarters with Hawkmoth, who had just gotten his sword free. This was not the plan.</p><p>“Ladybug. You cretin! How dare you trespass on my property! I’ll have you and your little friend jailed! That is, if you survive!” Hawkmoth swung his sword, aiming for Ladybug’s head. Ladybug sprang away, hit the wall and bounced to her feet as she tried to dodge the sword. Unfortunately, while she could protect her head, her arms and legs were quickly becoming riddled with cuts from the sword.</p><p>There wasn’t room to spin her yoyo, so after a moment of thought, Ladybug spread the string and used it as an impromptu shield. As the elevator moved to its destination, Ladybug frantically tried to keep a distance from Hawkmoth and maneuver herself so she could leap from the doors when they opened. Unfortunately, Ladybug wasn’t prepared for the ceiling of the elevator to open and the bottom to push them out, tumbling away from Hawkmoth as he laughed derisively at her.</p><p>“You dare to attack me!? Foolish child! I should thank you for bringing your miraculous directly to me! I’ll happily take it!” Hawkmoth lunged again and Ladybug quickly rolled behind the first furniture she found. His desk wasn’t the best place to be, but Ladybug took the opportunity to set the butterfly she’d been holding onto free. With her yoyo empty, she could utilize it better.</p><p>Hawkmoth paused as the white butterfly flew up and away from his desk. “It was you!” He hissed. “My butterfly didn’t malfunction, you bugnapped it! I can’t believe you! The GALL!!” Hawkmoth lunged around the desk as Ladybug sent her yoyo to the ceiling and quickly swung away. Ladybug didn’t waste time arguing with Hawkmoth. Things had already gone completely outside of her expectations. This wasn’t the plan at all!</p><p>“CHAT!” Ladybug screamed. Braced on the ceiling, Ladybug screamed as loudly as possible so her team could find her. “CHAT- HELP! WE’RE IN HERE!!” Hawkmoth began laughing as he jumped onto his desk. As he began wildly swinging his sword perilously close to Ladybug’s shoulders, Ladybug cringed away.</p><p>“Calling for help? Need a sidekick already? What’s wrong? Not prepared to face me yourself?” Hawkmoth taunted. Ladybug’s jaw tightened but she ignored the inflammatory words. Once he was down for good, she could gloat, but she couldn’t waste precious time on retorting right now. Ladybug glanced around and saw a painting of Adrien’s mother. An idea came to her.</p><p>Ladybug grinned briefly before staring down at Hawkmoth. “Catch me if you can, Agreste!” Ladybug taunted as she leaped away, sending her yoyo to grab the painting and pull it down on top of Hawkmoth. Hawkmoth automatically used his sword to deflect the missile, screaming in rage as his sword pierced his wife’s beautiful face.</p><p>“You’re going to PAY FOR THAT!” He roared. The plan was gone, Ladybug giddily realized. The plan was dust in the wind. Ladybug laughed hysterically as she frantically ran for the doors. She hadn’t expected him to be so upset at losing the painting.</p><p>She’d been surprised by the machinery behind the painting, and it distracted her for a moment too long. It slowed her down just enough that Hawkmoth was able to stab her left shoulder as she reached for the doors. Operating on instinct, Ladybug screamed and rolled away as she fell.</p><p>Hawkmoth kept his eyes trained on Ladybug with rage painted across his features. As he jumped to try to stab Ladybug directly, Ladybug frantically rolled across the floor, leaving a small trail of blood. Hawkmoth braced himself on one knee as he watched the younger hero roll until she hit the steps and had to halt. Then he lunged from his back foot as powerfully as possible to finally pin the bug.</p><p>As Ladybug grunted and braced herself to be stabbed, her blue eyes defiantly locked onto his cold gray ones. To both of their surprise, Chat’s baton separated their bodies, a grunt coming from the doorway as Chat flung Hawkmoth away from Ladybug before he could land on her. “You keep away from my lady!” Chat ordered.</p><p>Hawkmoth landed against the wall, sliding down easily into a defensible crouch. “Ah yes, the sidekick. Not enough of a hero to face me on your own, of course. Where’s Nathalie?” Hawkmoth’s cold eyes glared into Chat’s as Ladybug pulled herself up slowly. Ladybug quietly examined Chat with relief.</p><p>Chat looked angry but in control of himself as he pressed on his baton to bring it back to the size of a staff and leaned against it. There were no tears or obvious injuries besides a bleeding lip, Ladybug noted with concern. Ladybug kept a careful hand over the bleeding shoulder as she looked for Viperion. He lurked outside the door, invisible to Hawkmoth as he held a quiet finger over his lips when Ladybug met his eyes. Ladybug immediately looked away, feeling guilty at all the blood running down Viperion’s face. He had a head wound of some kind, but now wasn’t the time to think about that.</p><p>Ladybug breathed out carefully and refocused on Hawkmoth and Chat Noir. “Don’t you mean Mayura? She’s been taken care of. Do you really even care?” Chat asked. Ladybug was certain that Hawkmoth took the question as sarcasm, but she could hear the note of genuine curiosity in Chat’s tone. Hawkmoth ground his teeth and sneered.</p><p>“It’s of no consequence. I’ll fix everything once I have your miraculous. Save us all the trouble and hand it over before I beat you bloody like I have that bug.” Hawkmoth didn’t wait for a response, leaping for Chat immediately. Chat froze for a moment, but Ladybug was finally ready. Her yoyo wrapped around Hawkmoth and she flung him away from her kitty, straight into another wall.</p><p>Rather than allow the sword to possibly cut her string, Ladybug called her yoyo back to her while Hawkmoth groaned and regained his balance. “Impudent children. You’re playing right into my plans, don’t you see? I’ll have your miraculous one way or the other. Why fight fate when you can give in now and save yourself from pain?” Hawkmoth threatened silkily as he staggered forward to brace himself against his desk.</p><p>As Chat bristled, Ladybug rolled her eyes and scoffed. “We’ve beaten you repeatedly, you ignorant gnat. This will all end tonight one way or another. You can go down the easy way or the hard way, but you’re going down tonight, Hawkmoth!” Ladybug declared. Chat Noir relaxed, belief in his lady restored once more.</p><p>Hawkmoth snickered as he reached forward and pressed a button on his desk. As loud beep filled the room, Hawkmoth began maniacally laughing as an automated countdown began. As Chat swore and Ladybug looked around warily, Hawkmoth grinned victoriously.</p><p>“That, you stupid children, is my special security system. It immediately zeroes in on any body signatures not already logged into the system and sends heat missiles to destroy them. You have ten seconds before your bodies are annihilated. Hand over your miraculous before I destroy you both and take it off your dead bodies.” Hawkmoth demanded. Ladybug felt the blood drain from her face as she tried to think of a countermeasure.</p><p>Viperion’s frantic voice came from the doorway. Ladybug glanced behind her to see him leaning on the door with wild eyes. “Chat, Sass said it’s time!” Hawkmoth, Chat, and Ladybug stared blankly for a moment.</p><p>“Who-?!” Hawkmoth choked out.</p><p>“What does that-?” Chat asked. For a full second everyone stared at Chat, unsure what they were waiting for. Then Chat’s face abruptly changed and Ladybug was somehow certain Plagg had just taken over.</p><p>“Yessssss! Suck it Sweetcheeks! STAR POWER!” Chat Noir flung his hand into the air and his ring shone with a yellow star for a moment before Chat was moving so quickly nothing but a rainbow could be seen trailing behind him. Ladybug gaped as Hawkmoth grunted and collapsed to the floor, unconscious.</p><p>As the beeping in the room increased in frequency and the countdown became critical, Ladybug ignored everything else and tied Hawkmoth up with her yoyo. She pulled him to her and removed all the weapons she could find. Viperion stepped fully into the room with a sigh of relief. Ladybug looked at him in clear worry, but he grinned at her. “Chat’s taking care of all the missiles. Don’t worry.”</p><p>Before Ladybug could reply, a loud, oddly annoying “NYOOOOM” filled the room and deposited the other three heroes at Ladybug’s feet. They stared up at her in confusion as she blinked down at them. Chat paused for a moment, and Ladybug could just make out blue overalls over his normal suit. As Ladybug gawked at him in disbelief, Plagg-Chat winked at her before zooming off again.</p><p>This time the beeping stopped, Nathalie was deposited unconscious beside Hawkmoth, and the lights in the room turned on. Chat spun in a circle, rapidly increasing speed before covering the room in glitter as the overalls and rainbow dissolved. Ladybug groaned and covered her face.</p><p>“Did you just go all ‘Super Mario’ on Hawkmoth?” Carapace asked in quiet awe. Chat Noir’s cheeky grin answered everything and nothing at the same time. Ladybug shook her head and tugged her yoyo to jostle Hawkmoth, but he was completely unconscious.</p><p>“Alright, that did NOT go according to plan. At all. But I’m glad everyone’s alright. Let’s get his miraculous off of him, find all the information he has about the miraculous and get out of here.” Ladybug ordered. Carapace jumped to his feet with Ryuuko joining him a moment later.</p><p>“Wait! I didn’t get to punch him!” Carapace cried. Ladybug stared in consternation at him and Ryuuko who nodded vigorously in agreement. Then Ladybug sighed and looked at Chat. He blinked back in confusion. Ladybug assumed he hadn’t been listening earlier when they demanded the right to punch Hawkmoth.</p><p>“Well? They want to punch him on behalf of Adrien, as they are his friends and feels he has mistreated Adrien terribly. It’s your decision, Chat.” Ladybug quietly fiddled with her yoyo, annoyed that she hadn’t had the opportunity to do more than dropkick Hawkmoth in the elevator. Her yoyo just wasn’t suited to fending off a sword in a tight space. She pouted quietly.</p><p>Chat hummed as he blushed, glancing between the two hopeful heroes that had missed the entire fight. He glanced at Ladybug who missed it as she pouted down at Hawkmoth. With a bashful smile, Chat replied. “Well, technically I already hit him with an overpowered uppercut. But we may need info from him about how to get into the safe and the computer to get all his information. If we do, you two can slap him awake?”</p><p>Carapace glanced at Ryuuko, who stared at him impassively. “Left cheek?” Carapace tentatively offered. Ryuuko scowled back and he cringed.</p><p>“I’m right handed.” Carapace sighed at Ryuuko’s growl. Rena finally put her phone away, realizing this conversation shouldn’t be shared with the world. She stood up as though she hadn’t been dumped on the floor by a super-powered Chat.</p><p>“Me too.” Carapace admitted. He rubbed his chin for a moment. Ryuuko glared, while Chat awkwardly watched them fight over slapping his father. Ladybug began subtly poking Hawkmoth with her toe, steadily increasing pressure as he continued to remain unresponsive. She absently wondered if she could kick him a couple times.</p><p>“Both?” Carapace offered. Ryuuko hummed as her glare turned into a thoughtful gaze. Chat looked between them in confusion.</p><p>“Both.” Ryuuko nodded. Chat blinked as they apparently came to a decision. It was clear by his expression that he didn’t know what the decision was, Ladybug noted with amusement. She glanced at the conspiring duo, and sighed, just hoping they didn’t break his jaw.</p><p>Carapace and Ryuuko shook hands and nodded as they came to an agreement. “Both!” They chimed together. Ladybug stared as a new, possibly deadly friendship was formed. Well, she thought optimistically, at least she could still call for a lucky charm.</p><p>“Anyway, let’s strip this office of anything to do with the miraculous. Starting with the safe!” Ladybug clapped her hands to reorient the team. Everyone jumped and looked at her before laughing and nodding. Suiting action to words, the heroes got to work.</p><p>Rena hacked into the computer but couldn’t find any files related to the miraculous, only encrypted data. As he was the only one to use his extra powers, Viperion de-transformed so Sass could unlock the safe from the inside. While Sass was occupied, Ladybug fussed over the bloodstained Luka. Chat emptied the safe and removed anything that wasn’t directly related to his mother or Gabriel Fashion deciding he could always return anything that wasn’t incriminating.</p><p>“I can’t find anything on the computer. We’re gonna need him to tell us where it is.” Rena finally gave in and admitted to the team. Ladybug huffed out an annoyed breath. She’d hoped they wouldn’t have to talk to him, but it wasn’t meant to be.</p><p>“Luka, transform back please. He doesn’t need to know anyone’s identity.” Luka nodded and transformed. Chat shuffled closer after stacking the safe’s belongings neatly on the desk. Ladybug eyed Carapace and Ryuuko as they eagerly hovered over Hawkmoth. “Which one of you is slapping him first?” She asked curiously.</p><p>The two heroes froze before staring at the other with caution. Ryuuko’s eyes narrowed. “Rock paper scissors?” She offered begrudgingly. Carapace sighed with relief. Ladybug was absolutely certain he was scared to fight the dragon hero, but likely would try for the chance to hit Agreste.</p><p>“Sure.” They quickly held three rounds of which Ryuuko was eventually the victor. Carapace started to grumble until Ryuuko slapped Hawkmoth the first time. Then he gaped with a grudging respect.</p><p>*SMACK*</p><p>The sound echoed in the large office as the other heroes gaped. Ryuuko hadn’t held anything back, it seemed. Ladybug studied the handprint that seemed to be fully formed already on Hawkmoth’s cheek as Hawkmoth shifted.</p><p>*SMACK*</p><p>Ryuuko backhanded Hawkmoth across the face, leaving a deep red imprint as everyone winced. Hawkmoth groaned, but remained unconscious. Ladybug wondered if this counted as cruelty. Maybe she shouldn’t let them continue, she thought. Even as she considered stopping them, she had left him as Hawkmoth to keep any injuries down on purpose. And she knew they’d all been itching to lay into Hawkmoth for years now.</p><p>“Your turn.” Ryuuko stood and gestured for Carapace to take her place next to Hawkmoth. Hawkmoth groaned as he began to regain consciousness. Carapace glanced down at the handprints visible on Hawkmoth’s cheeks despite the mask partially covering his cheeks. Then he kneeled down and hesitated, taking a bracing breath.</p><p>“This is for everyone you preyed on, you asshat.” Carapace mumbled, obviously psyching himself up. Ladybug glanced at Chat Noir, who was blushing like a maiden being fought over in medieval times. Despite Carapace’s best efforts, he was too kind, and Ladybug hid a smile.</p><p>*Smack*</p><p>The slap was obviously gentle, just enough to turn Hawkmoth’s head a bit. Ladybug nearly laughed, relieved he wasn’t going to dislocate the villain’s jaw or something. Nino took a deeper breath. “And this is for my best bro!”</p><p>*SMACK*</p><p>Carapace backhanded Hawkmoth with much more power than the initial slap. Hawkmoth groaned and fully regained consciousness as Ladybug gaped at Carapace. Carapace shrugged guiltily but intractably set his jaw.</p><p>“It’s for Adrien. I couldn’t let Ryuuko take all of the vengeance. My bro deserves the best.” Ladybug bit her lip and maintained her silence as Chat quietly wept with conflicted happiness and sadness. Rena quietly began recording again as Hawkmoth sputtered, just in case.</p><p>“Release me this instant! Give me your miraculous! It can’t end this way! I won’t let it!” Hawkmoth demanded with a minor lisp. Blood trickled from his mouth. Ladybug frowned in concern before realizing he’d probably cut the inside of his cheek on his teeth when he was slapped.</p><p>“You’ve lost, Hawkmoth. It was all for nothing. Give up gracefully and tell us where all of your miraculous intel is.” Ladybug replied. Hawkmoth sneered.</p><p>“I’ll get out of this. I’ll get you all back. Just wait.” Hawkmoth smirked at a thought. “You’re all going to be ruined and Adrien will hate you all. He’ll avenge me for sure. You’ll never know peace!” Hawkmoth taunted. Ladybug blinked down at him incredulously. Hawkmoth mistook her disbelief for worry and smiled victoriously with bloody teeth. Everyone except for Ryuuko winced sympathetically.</p><p>“Once he learns why I’ve done this, he’ll come after you all. Just wait.” Hawkmoth promised. Ladybug hummed with consideration. That sounded promising, if she could goad him into talking.</p><p>“What do you mean?” Ladybug asked as she crouched down to hear him better. The other heroes crowded in closer while Ladybug quietly gestured for Viperion to set his second chance.</p><p>“This is all for Emelie, my wife. Adrien will do anything for his mother, and you won’t be able to stop him. Not when you know it’s to save his mother.” Hawkmoth sneered at them, confident his words would shake them. To his surprise, while they looked surprised, none looked guilty or ready to hand over their miraculous for him to use.</p><p>“How would our miraculous save his mother? Isn’t she missing?” Ladybug asked. She glanced at Chat Noir who was looking both hurt and furious. Chat didn’t appear to believe his father was being sincere, but there seemed to be at least a small bit of truth to it.</p><p>“She used the Peacock miraculous but it was damaged.” Hawkmoth dramatically lamented. “She’s fallen into a coma, and I’ve had to hide her away. I want to use your miraculous to bring her back. To fix this. To fix everything. Is that so bad?” Hawkmoth entreated. Ladybug stared at his eyes and the twitch of his lips. She was certain he wasn’t being completely sincere, but she would play along. Viperion would step in if anything went wrong.</p><p>“How do we get to her?” Ladybug asked. The heroes shifted slightly as they glanced at Ladybug for a moment before looking back at Hawkmoth. The uncertainty in the air was stifling. Hawkmoth frowned at her with confusion and derision.</p><p>“Why do you need to know?” He asked suspiciously. Ladybug smiled at him reassuringly while clenching her hands out of his sight. Playing along would get her further than scoffing, she reminded herself.</p><p>“If it’s a miraculous problem, we’re obligated to do what we can.” Ladybug assured. Hawkmoth continued to frown, opening his mouth to reply before Viperion cut him off.</p><p>“He lies. The next thing he says is ‘press the button under the desk’ which will set off another security system.” Hawkmoth glanced at Viperion with surprise and sneered. Ladybug grinned for a moment before schooling her features.</p><p>“Care to try again?” She asked. Hawkmoth again moved to speak but was cut off by Viperion.</p><p>“He insists he can only whisper it to you, then head-butts you and tries to bite off your miraculous.” Hawkmoth groaned with impotent fury as Ladybug raised her eyebrows and moved back a bit. Chat Noir growled as he moved closer, prepared to take point to protect his love from his father.</p><p>“You damned snake!” Hawkmoth hissed. Ladybug sighed and stood up. They weren’t going to get much farther if Hawkmoth wasn’t willing to talk. She wasn’t sure what to do, so she began pacing as she thought. The others glanced between her pacing and their enemy with wariness.</p><p>“I take it you don’t want your wife cured.” Ladybug called. Hawkmoth struggled against his bonds in rage. What could be seen of his face that wasn’t marked a cherry red turned puce.</p><p>“Of course I do! I just don’t trust you incompetent children to do anything for her!” Ladybug scoffed and rested her hands against her hips. She stared down at him confidently and tossed her head.</p><p>“But you’ll entrust her to a teenager who thinks she’s dead and has no access to anything that might help her, unlike me who has access to the temple records and several kwami?” Ladybug replied. Viperion snorted.</p><p>“He was about to say something vicious and underhanded, but it’s not necessary. All it does is make Chat knock his teeth out and then Hawkmoth can’t give us information.” Hawkmoth glanced warily at Chat who grinned threateningly at him and cracked his knuckles. Ladybug snorted as well before pausing and sighing.</p><p>“We’re not getting anywhere like this.” Ladybug admitted. She frowned at the group of people huddled around Hawkmoth. “Any ideas? We’re running short on time, and everyone looks ready to punch him out.”</p><p>Ryuuko raised a hand and Ladybug nodded at her. “You could try lucky charm. And I can go investigate that lair some more. There was another elevator we didn’t go down earlier.” Ryuuko offered. Ladybug brightened immediately.</p><p>“You’re a genius!” Ladybug praised as Ryuuko blushed. “Alright, Ryuuko and Carapace, you go check out the lair. Chat, you keep an eye on Hawkmoth. Viperion, continue as you are, you’re doing great! Rena, keep live streaming to the world.” Ladybug gave a subtle wink at Rena who nodded back with a smirk. Ryuuko and Carapace jumped out of the window with brief nods.</p><p>Hawkmoth yelped. “You’re livestreaming this?! Stop it! Stop it now!” He demanded. As Hawkmoth devolved into threats and demands, Ladybug stepped away and called for a lucky charm, using the small bit of yoyo not occupied with keeping Hawkmoth restrained.</p><p>A USB fell into her palm and she stared as it blinked with the signature ladybug spots before glancing around the room. To her surprise, the monitor and the computer lit up as well.</p><p>Ladybug sprinted to the computer and plugged in the USB. The Computer monitor showed a master hacking system that completely erased all data on the computer and appeared to be transferring the virus to any device that shared data with this one. Ladybug covered her mouth on an incredulous laugh. As the computer began to hiss and break down, Ryuuko and Carapace returned.</p><p>“We found her! She’s hidden pretty well, but we can take you to her.” Carapace announced. Ryuuko nodded before walking over and kicking Hawkmoth. Ladybug hopped up and sprinted to where Hawkmoth was groaning while Ryuuko scowled down at him.</p><p>“What was that for?” Ladybug asked her. Chat’s hands were raised as though to stop her, but he’d hesitated at the conviction in her expression. Ryuuko moved her glare to Ladybug.</p><p>“That was for keeping her down there without telling Adrien anything or seeking help from authorities. Who even knows if she’s ever going to walk again after being kept down there without any physical therapy or doctors monitoring her vitals for who even knows how long!” Ryuuko was incensed, and as Ladybug listened, she could understand why.</p><p>“Okay. I understand, Ryuuko, but no more kicking villains while they’re down.” Ladybug turned to Hawkmoth who was sputtering in anger before leaning over him and reaching for his throat where she’d watched Nooroo disappear earlier. As she grasped the pin, Hawkmoth did his best to move away from her seeking fingers until Chat held him in place with his hands on Hawkmoth’s shoulders.</p><p>Everyone heard the sirens start up in the distance, coming closer. Ladybug firmed her lips and glanced at her team. “That’s our signal. Let’s grab everything and go.” Ladybug pulled the pin away from Hawkmoth and as his uniform dissolved, Gabriel curled into a ball of pain. Ladybug tugged at her yoyo and it tightened back around him while Chat immediately began using cords to tie him up properly.</p><p>Rena paused her recording. “What about the computer though? Did you get the data?” Hawkmoth smirked at Ladybug, certain he would be able to keep his thrice encrypted data. Ladybug smiled down at him beatifically.</p><p>“Yes and no.” Ladybug replied. The sneer fell off of Hawkmoth’s face and he stared up at her with fear. “I couldn’t get it off, so I removed everything connected to his computer system. Everything, All of his work, and his research is now gone, as is anything on any computer connected to that one.” The blood drained from Gabriel’s face, leaving the red handprints standing out on his cheeks.  Chat and Rena winced sympathetically before standing up and allowing Ladybug to finally tug her yoyo free.</p><p>Ladybug grabbed the USB lucky charm while Viperion and Chat grabbed the remaining stuff from the safe. Ladybug threw the lucky charm in the air and sent the ladybugs to fix everything. She sighed in relief when her wounds healed, and frowned with a bit of disappointment when Gabriel’s cheeks returned to his normal porcelain color.</p><p>Ladybug checked over the room to see everything back to normal besides a smoking computer and gaping safe laying open from behind the repaired painting. The heroes nodded at Ladybug and silently began to leave. Gabriel mutely laid his head down in defeat as the heroes filed out of the now opened window to return to his lair.</p><p>**************************************************</p><p>In the lair, Ladybug had them guide her to the room containing Emilie. Once everyone filed in, she immediately de-transformed and ignored all the gasps from her team.</p><p>“I was running out of time anyway,” Marinette defensively muttered. “Tikki, what should we do? She’s in a coma from using a broken miraculous. Here.” Marinette took the brooch from Viperion’s hand and offered it to Tikki. Tikki rested her paws on the brooch and stared at Emilie.</p><p>“It feels like it’s been repaired recently, but there’s still traces of corruption in it.” Marinette nodded and moved closer to Emilie, blindly offering her hand to Chat, who released his own transformation with a weary sigh. They both ignored the shrieks from their team and Rena’s victorious muttering.</p><p>“What can we do for her, Tikki?” Marinette asked quietly while Adrien reached forward to rest a hand on the glass surface keeping his mother from him. Tikki flew up and hummed before returning to Marinette’s palm. Plagg rested against Adrien’s neck, tiredly purring to help comfort him.</p><p>“I think we need Wayzz.” Tikki admitted. Marinette nodded and turned back to her team.</p><p>“Everyone except Ryuuko, de-transform. I want to talk to the kwami.” Marinette ordered. Everyone shuffled around for a minute before complying. “Alya, I want you monitoring the news. Let me know if anything alarming pops up. Ryuuko, you’re security. Keep anyone that may come down out and give us time to suit up if we need to. Everyone, feed your kwami now, and let us figure out what to do.”</p><p>Everyone nodded and brought out their preferred kwami’s food. As the kwami gratefully accepted their offerings, they gathered around the life support machine. Marinette frowned.</p><p>“How did he get a life support machine down here without the police catching wind of it? Not to mention the whole elevator system. This whole set up is really suspicious.” She muttered. Ryuuko self-consciously coughed to get Marinette’s attention.</p><p>“My mother might have something to do with that. We trade in technology, and I know she has blackmail on that asshole. I don’t think she knew about him being Hawkmoth, but she might have suspected him of doing something to his wife.” Ryuuko’s voice was tinged with guilt, and Marinette gently pressed a comforting hand to Ryuuko’s shoulder.</p><p>“Thank you for sharing, Ryuuko. It’s not your fault, okay? Please keep us safe while we work on this.” Marinette and Ryuuko shared a smile before Marinette turned back to Adrien and the kwami. “Tikki, how did you make such a useful lucky charm?” Marinette asked. Tikki turned a darker red than usual while the kwami snickered.</p><p>“I made provisions in case you needed something extra. I had a little extra lucky juice, you could say.” Tikki shyly admitted. Plagg quietly cackled.</p><p>“She and I both got some power-juice! As did everyone here.” Plagg yawned. Marinette’s eyes widened in understanding.</p><p>“So the Super-Mario Chat?” Marinette asked.</p><p>“Tikki made it for Plagg, just in case.” Trixx offered. Trixx dangled a small charm from their paw. “I didn’t need mine, but it’s right here. It’ll temporarily make any illusion into reality.”</p><p>Wayzz offered his charm. “Mine will give an extra five minutes of power boost for a Shell-ter when needed.” Marinette and Nino nodded appreciatively. That would have been useful if things had followed their original plan.</p><p>Sass waved his tail. “I already ussssed mine, back when the missssssiles hit. Mine let me resssset time and ssssend a messsssage to my chosen. Otherwissse it’sss very hard to take control of my holdersss.”</p><p>Marinette and Luka exchanged understanding grins. Marinette reached forward and pulled Tikki to her cheek. “So you were pulling strings out of sight to make things go well for us then?” Marinette happily questioned. Tikki giggled and nodded, hugging Marinette’s cheek. “Thank you Tikki! Who knows how this could have gone without you? Now we just need to figure out how to save Mrs. Agreste, and everything will finally be resolved.”</p><p>Marinette sighed and wrapped an arm around Adrien. Tikki flew back to the other kwami and they murmured to each other before turning to Marinette. “Can you free Nooroo and Duusu? They might have an idea of what to do.” Wayzz quietly requested. Marinette frowned and fiddled with the miraculous cautiously before pinning them on her romper.</p><p>Nooroo and Duusu emerged, both looking sluggish. Tikki flew to them, spinning them around and laughing. “You’re back, you’re back!” She chanted. The other kwami soon followed and there was a small celebration as the holders watching their Kwami gleefully reunite. Duusu broke off from the rest and came down to stare at Emelie.</p><p>“Oh, Em!” Duusu cried. Duusu phased through the glass and rested her head against Emelie’s cheek, quietly crooning and crying. The kwami surrounded the glass coffin in a loose circle while Marinette held tightly to Adrien, preventing him from interfering. Adrien stopped straining against her hold when the first tear touched his mother’s cheek and began to glow.</p><p>Adrien grabbed Marinette tightly and they held each other close as the tears’ glow began to expand. Nooroo flew to stand in front of the couple, offering an explanation. “Duusu wasn’t in her right mind when she cursed Emelie, but once she regained her sanity, she regretted it immensely. Gabriel wouldn’t let her near Emelie though, and even told her Emelie had died. Duusu can fix it, don’t worry.” Nooroo returned to the circle as the other holders moved forward to stand with their heroes. Ryuuko remained facing the elevator, on guard.</p><p>As the teens watched, Emelie’s entire body soon glowed a golden color before Duusu flew out of the container and to Adrien. Adrien and Duusu stared at each other for a minute before Duusu nodded.</p><p>“You’ll do. Kiss her. Quickly. She needs a connection of love to bring her back. Hurry.” Adrien scrambled forward, thoughtlessly pulling Marinette with him as he stumbled. They frantically tried to figure out how to open the container before Plagg groaned.</p><p>“Geez kid, you really can’t do anything without me, can you?” Plagg leaned over the glass and rested one paw against the surface as he hissed. The glass dissolved before their eyes, and the life support machine began going haywire. Marinette and Adrien ignored it, Adrien frantically reaching for his mother’s face to kiss her cheeks. Then he kissed her forehead, before kissing her cheeks again for good measure. The glow around Emelie immediately dissolved when he kissed her forehead.</p><p>As Adrien leaned back, his mother opened her eyes and looked around. As several holders and kwami felt themselves tear up involuntarily, Emelie reached for Adrien. The pair embraced, crying and laughing to each other in frantic whispers. Marinette took a step back to give Adrien privacy. She saw when Trixx phased into the machine and shut it off. Trixx came out cackling, so Marinette smiled and glanced around.</p><p>The evening hadn’t gone to plan at all, but this was better than she could have anticipated. Adrien now had a parent he’d thought long lost, Hawkmoth was gone, all of the miraculous had been reclaimed, and she didn’t need to keep secrets from her friends and family any longer. It wasn’t what they had originally planned but somehow, Marinette was certain of one thing. It had gone precisely as it should have.</p><p> </p>
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